BFF?
by KaNdRaKaRgrl
Summary: Irma & Hay Lin: Best Friends Forever...right? When Irma starts doubting herself & Hay Lin struggles with her powers, their elements start to turn them against each other. Will their friendship survive?
1. Irma :Where We Were

BFF…?

Disclaimer: "Hey everybody! Today we have a special guest with us to read the disclaimer! Please welcome the one, the only, CORNELIA HALE!"

cricket chirps in awkward silence

"Um, okay then. Cornelia, would you please be so kind as to read this?" Hands Cornelia a notecard

Corny: "Kandrakargrl does not own WITCH or I Love Lucy. If she did, Irma would actually have a storyline, Taranee and Nigel would have kissed already (A/N: we're only up to book 17 here) and Cornelia would get those awful portal headaches instead of Will…HEY!"

"Enjoy the story people!" ducks out of the room as Corny's hands start glowing green

Chapter One

Irma: Where We Were

(General POV)

Irma Lair had never been one for sappy, happy-go-lucky recalls of memories…at least, that's what she let on to everyone. _I'm the spirit of our little group, _she'd always tell herself whenever she felt her mind and soul slipping back into what she now knew was that little feeling of loneliness. _If I don't keep up the happy, who's going to? Corny? _She chuckled a little at that. _Will? Taranee? No…I just have to work through it. I always have. No one has to know…ever. _But now, looking out onto the dull crystal waters that fanned out before her, she wasn't sure she could take bottling those emotions anymore. So she let the memory into her mind, the memory of the day when she had met her best friend, Hay Lin:

_Flashback_

Suddenly, Irma was seven years old again, skipping across the sand in her still warm from the laundry Boy Comet t-shirt without a care in the world. And then the cave came into view. It was absolutely the most beautiful thing Irma had ever seen, a glimmering cavern in the shape of a shell. She'd spent so many sun-filled days and star littered nights exploring every nook and cranny that haven had to offer her, letting herself get wrapped up in the freedom of it all.

But when she peeked her head into the fogged up darkness that particular day, she discovered she wasn't the only little girl who came calling for the most outrageous adventures to take over her day. A wiry little Asian girl had a stick of chalk running wild on the floor of the cave, and Irma just stood there, frozen in awe as she watched the little girl draw.

Even though she had to be roughly Irma's age, the girl could _draw. _It wasn't exactly the clearest drawing, but Irma could make out a beautiful blue palace, looking like something out of the world of Atlantis (A/N: If you've seen the comics, you know what I'm talking about here) But the thing that most fascinated Irma was that _hair. _It traveled almost stick straight down to the girl's waist in two rippling, shiny pigtails. Self-consciously, Irma's hand flew to her own wavy brown locks.

The girl finally noticed her standing there, raised her head up, and instantly smiled the biggest, pearliest grin Irma had ever seen. "Hi!" she chirped, picking herself up off the ground and running over to Irma. "My name is Hay Lin? What's yours? Do you want to be my friend? Come color with me!"

Even though she was slightly…okay VERY freaked out, Irma managed to answer Hay Lin's questions. "I'm Irma," she said as Hay Lin dragged her over to a bucket of chalk. "And sure, I'll be your friend."

Irma didn't think it was possible, but Hay Lin's grin grew even wider. "Great! Here you go," she said as she handed Irma an ocean-blue piece of chalk. Irma smiled and set the point of the chalk down onto the dank hard floor. And then, even though she hadn't the slightest clue what that building Hay Lin was drawing was, she knew exactly where to pick up where her new friend had left off. And with her soon-to-be-water-wielding hand, she filled in ethereal landscape of a little place called Candracar.

_End Flashback_

And ever since that day, Irma and Hay Lin had been the Lucy & Ethel of Heatherfield, inseparable practically from the day they had become friends. Best friends. The kind of friends to who you told your innermost dreams, thoughts, schemes, and fears. But what Irma didn't know as she gazed across the frothing waves was that Hay Lin was keeping a secret as big as hers, and that both of them, who had sworn to be there for each other to the end, would be tested so rigorously that maybe they would actually think twice about whether they could keep that promise.

Like? Don't like? R&R please! Flames will be used to help Taranee with her target practice.


	2. Hay Lin :Where We Are

"Hey all! I know, I deleted the first edition of this story for editing purposes. SO SORRY! Thanks to Sokai & Periphery for reviewing! Here's chapter 2 to make up for deleting. Enjoy!"

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own WITCH. If I did, do you really think Irma would be single & Cornelia and Caleb would break up? I think not.

Chapter 2

Hay Lin: Where We Are

(General POV)

Hay Lin was always perky. And I mean _always. _The only time anyone ever saw her depressed was with the passing of her grandmother…and when anyone else was depressed. But now, as she sat there in her room having a staring contest with a blank piece of paper propped up on an art easel, she was spiraling toward despair. Why? Because the piece of paper was winning. Hay Lin sighed and closed her eyes, trying to think of something that would spark some inspiration. And for a reason unknown to her, she started to remember the days after she and her friends recognized their true destinies as Guardians of the Veil.

_Flashback_

Yan Lin's words still rang through her head as she walked down the street, her destination within her wandering eye's view. "You have been chosen as the new guardians of the veil." Hay Lin was more than happy to take on her new role as a protector of her world. But she wasn't so sure about the other girls. Will had been freaked, Cornelia had been stubborn, Taranee had been running scared, and Irma? Well, to her this was just a game, like life. Irma had always taken things that were supposed to be so serious like another one of her jokes. Hay Lin guessed it was her friend's way of dealing with things too big for her to handle. And that was why she was going out on a shopping trip to the local jewelry store, to remind her best friend that all of this wasn't just a game: it was real. And it was her destiny.

She shoved the door open and walked around the shop for at least ten minutes, looking around and around in circle upon circle for the perfect way to tell Irma that she was a vital member of their little group of superheroes, W.I.T.C.H., and if she didn't start taking this a little more seriously, who knew what otherworldly chaos would descend once she let her guard down.

Approaching the counter with a small silver chain held in her hands, she smiled as she placed it before the cashier, took out her money, and carried the bag outside, humming a happy little tune to no one but the wind.

"So what'd you get me?"

Hay Lin jumped as a very familiar, bubbly voice sliced through her thoughts. She spun around to find Irma leaning against the front window of the store, holding a little bag just like hers.

"What'd you get _me?_" she asked back, walking over and standing in front of her friend.

Irma sighed. "I asked you first."

"How about we just give each other the bags on three?" Hay Lin suggested.

"Okay. One…two…three!"

On three, the girls snatched the bags from each other and plunged their hands in, each pulling out a lengthy silver chain.

Irma smiled. "How did you know?" Hers had the symbol of water dangling at its end, and Hay Lin's had that of air.

"I guess it's our 'guardian senses' starting to kick in," Hay Lin said, earning a laugh from Irma. The girls turned around and let the other put their chain round their neck.

"Best friends?" Irma said, sticking out her hand for Hay Lin.

"Forever," Hay Lin answered, taking Irma's hand in her own. And both girls could have sworn they felt a little surge of energy jolt through their palms as they met in promise.

_End Flashback_

And it had been that way ever since. The girls told each other anything and everything. But lately, Hay Lin had the feeling that Irma was keeping something from her, something big. And just as she was reaching for the phone to find out what, she found herself picking up her drawing pencil instead, flying right to her empty piece of paper. It might have won their staring contest, their battle, but she wasn't going to let it win their war.

Okay, I promise that's the last full chapter of reflection. These two were just to introduce the problem. The next one will have a lot more action and revelations than these two. Until then, review so I know what to keep & what to change. Flames will be used to help Irma with her practice round of save the citizen.


	3. Krystal Visions & Karaoke

"Hey everybody!" :waves: thanks to Sokai, GrrArgh & Kaay-chan for reviewing! Here's Chapter 3 for you! Enjoy!

Irma: WAIT JUST ONE SECOND! Why did you have to make ME the depressed one in this story!

Hay Lin: Cause I'm too happy to get depressed!

Irma::gasp: Really? I NEVER knew. :eye roll: Why couldn't it have been Corny instead? Just tell her Caleb went into flower mode again.

:Cornelia comes in, hands glowing green:

Cornelia: I HEARD THAT!

Oooookay then…I think I'll leave now. :runs out of the room as things start blowing up:

Disclaimer: I do not own WITCH or The Wreckers or their song "The Good Kind."

Chapter 3

Krystal Vision & Karaoke

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGG!

"Hay Lin!"

The ink ran down the page in mirror of its manipulator's frustration. "WHAT?"

"Irma's on the phone!" Downstairs, her mother was covering the receiver with her hand to block out the noise to Irma and wondering why her normally chipper little daughter seemed so knotted up with anger that evening.

Hay Lin gave a sigh as she slammed her brush down on her desk and spoke into the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Irma."

"Hey Irma. What's up?"

"Everything okay? You sound a little angry."

"I'm fine. Just working on something."

"Ahh, the temperamental artist strikes the canvas again. I was wondering if you weren't too busy to go out, but since you and your paint set are at war…"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I was going to go sing some karaoke. Wanna come?"

"Okay."

"We'll pick you up in ten minutes."

"I'll be ready."

KRYSTALVISIONKARAOKEKRYSTALVISIONKARAOKEKRYSTALVISIONKAR

Hay Lin, Will, Taranee and even Cornelia sat down around a round table laden with lattes, biscotti, and enough packets of Sweet & Low to feed at least half of Meridian. Irma bolted for the stage the minute she stepped over the threshold of the coffee house door. As she spun around the microphone with ease, Hay Lin had to smile. Singing was the one thing that came naturally to Irma, and now, she was finally going to show it o the world.

Irma whispered the name of her song to the DJ, faced the small but satisfying enough for her first performance crowd, closed her eyes, and felt the music seep into her soul.

"'Do you wanna run away together?  
I would say it was your best line ever.  
Too bad I fell for it...  
And I walked along,  
Waiting for you to come along.  
Take my tortured heart by the hand.  
And write me off.  
Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I die?  
Do you know I cry?  
And it's not the good kind..."

And at those words, Hay Lin's world completely dropped out of existence. All she could see now was the ground, drenched with water, like someone was crying themselves a river…

"You forced me to become strong.  
And I just cried, being weak.  
And you think you know.  
And I would like to think so,  
But do you know that when you go,  
I fall apart.  
Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I die?  
Do you know I cry?  
And it's not the good kind.  
No, it's not the good kind..."

And then the water started turning red, like someone had just dipped a paintbrush of crimson into the rippling waves…painful, rattling gasps flowed as fast as the clear blue water, growing closer and closer with every word…

"I'm tired of hiding behind these lying eyes,  
I'm tired of this smile that even I don't recognize.

And then Hay Lin saw her. Irma was on her back, surrounded by her tainted element…and then Hay Lin saw that the blood was coming from her. Line upon line upon line of red oozed from her heaving body, blanketing the girl in her own draining life. Tears merging with her blood, she finally cracked her eyes open into barely there little slits, and to her horror, Hay Lin saw that they were no longer the beautiful ocean blue orbs she had always admired. They were the lightest gray she had ever seen, practically white, even. She was no longer the princess of water. She was empty, and dying. But _why? _Hay Lin thought desperately. And then Irma spoke her last soft words: "Hay Lin…I'm so sorry." And then the water took her, her last breath captured up into the wind.

"Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I die?  
Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I cry?  
And it's not the good kind...  
Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I die?  
Do you know I cry?  
Do you know I cry?  
And it's not the good kind...

No, you're not the good kind.  
Good kind  
No, you're not the good kind.  
Good kind  
No, you're not the good kind."

Hay Lin came back to earth, and she could feel tears threatening to spill over onto her face. She had just seen one of the candidates for her worst fear take place. Irma's words echoed inside of her mind: "Hay Lin…I'm so sorry." What had she done to cause the death and guilt of her friend? What did it all mean?

She saw that the rest of WITCH had been utterly stunned into silence. Obviously, that wasn't the kind of song they had expected Irma to sing. But the rest of the crowd erupted into applause that could probably have been heard from Candracar. Irma almost _floated _back to their table.

"So what'd you guys think?" She asked brightly, smiling truly for the first in what seemed to her like forever.

"Um…" was all that came out of Taranee.

"You were awesome!" Will covered, pulling her friend into a hug.

"Not exactly the song we were expecting to hear from you…" Cornelia pointed out.

"…but you were awesome!" Will repeated, flashing Cornelia a look.

Taranee nodded, and Hay Lin just sat there, still in shock from that vision, blinking back the last of her straggling tears.

Irma turned toward her, and Hay Lin was quick to smile widely. "Irma, you were great," she said, wincing as her voice cracked.

"Thanks…" Irma said slowly. "Um, I'll be right back," she said to the others, motioning for Hay Lin to follow her. They both got up and walked over to the area where the pay phones stood at attention.

"Hay Lin, what's wrong? You look like someone just died."

That _really _didn't help anything. Hay Lin's almost normal eyes grew red again, and she threw her arms around Irma's neck. Irma just returned her friend's desperate embrace, holding her and telling her everything was okay until Hay Lin finally broke away.

"I-"

"We'll talk tomorrow," Irma said understandingly. Hay Lin nodded gratefully and went to the bathroom.

As she splashed freezing water onto her delicate skin, Hay Lin's conscience raged inside of herself, wondering whether she should tell her friend that she might just be a dead guardian walking.

OOOOH I made a cliffie! Lol I'm so proud of myself. Was Hay Lin's vision of Irma real? What did Irma do to Hay Lin to apologize to her? R&R and youll find out! How about we make it…5 reviews & ill update? Okay then! Flames will be used to annoy Cornelia at power practice.


	4. Girl Talk & Power Practice

Hey everybody! Thanks to everyone for reviewing lol yes scott you're right that _is _a VERY bad omen. Here's Chapter 4 for you!

Irma: PLEASE say I don't die! God, why does everything bad always happen to me?

Oh you'll get over it. Go douse Cornelia or something.

(Guess who just happens to be strolling by when I say that?)

Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH.

Chapter 4

Girl Talk & Power Practice

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! CRAAAAAACK! Irma slammed her fist a little too hard on her alarm clock, causing those ever-annoying glowing red numbers to fade from existence. Not that Irma was complaining. She sighed, rolling out of bed. (A/N: can you tell she's not a morning person? lol) Venturing over to her closet and wondering what she should wear, the glowing red numbers that had graced her alarm clock just moments before flashed back through her mind: 10:59.

"SHIT!" Irma cried. Grabbing the first outfit she laid eyes on, she threw on her clothes, splashed some water on her face, randomly clipped her hair up, slathered on some lip gloss and took off for the Silver Dragon. She had promised Hay Lin last night that she'd come over and talk about what had her friend so completely freaked out last night. She just hoped Hay Lin wouldn't be too mad if she was a couple of minutes late.

And as Irma walked along the string of concrete that was the sidewalk, she couldn't help but think that maybe she had a hand in what had shaken her friend up so much. _It all started after I finished my song, _Irma thought as the wind started whipping her in the face. _I wonder if it was just me…_

At that thought, she closed her eyes and clutched at her head. _When will this stop? _She asked herself desperately. _If this is a test, I failed okay? Just make it stop already…_

Putting on her happy face, Irma pushed open the door of the Chinese restaurant where she had spent many an afternoon, said a quick hello to Mr. & Mrs. Lin, then practically flew up the stairs, screeching to a halt in front of Hay Lin's bedroom door.

_Knock._

"Come in."

Irma turned the knob and stepped into Hay Lin's bedroom.

"You're late," Hay Lin teased, turning away from her canvas.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Irma explained, wading through the mess of…everything you could imagine blanketing the floor.

"I'm only kidding," Hay Lin said, pulling up another chair for Irma to sit down on.

"So let's get right to the point: what happened last night?"

"You showed everyone how much of an awesome singer you are?" Hay Lin tried, attempting (and failing) to avoid the subject. She still hadn't decided if she was going to tell Irma what she'd really seen.

Irma sighed. "You _know _what I mean. I'm not leaving until you tell me. You know I'll do it. I'll get a tent and camp out in here all night if I have to."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Hay Lin sighed. "It…it might sound crazy, but…"

"Hay Lin, we have magical powers, saved a whole other universe, and helped one of our best friends take her place as the rightful ruler of it. _Nothing _can even come close to crazy anymore."

"Guess you're right," she muttered. "Well…when you started singing last night, I kind of had…a vision…"

"Of what?"

"Of…of someone…dying…"

"Oh Hay Lin." Irma pulled her friend into a hug. "Are you sure it was a real vision? Maybe your powers were just going haywire or something. The Oracle never did give a warranty on those things…"

Hay Lin didn't even crack a smile. "I don't know…" she said slowly. "But I don't want it to be real…I don't want it to be real…"

"Who was it?"

Hay Lin froze. She hadn't thought this far ahead.

And then something dawned on Irma. "Was it…one of us?"

Hay Lin didn't move, didn't speak.

"Was it…me?"

"NO!" Hay Lin's hands flew to her mouth. The answer came out a lot quicker and a lot louder and a lot more unexpected than she'd hoped it would.

Irma gave her friend a look. Hay Lin sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"It's okay," Irma said, giving her watch a glance. "We'd better get going. I don't need Corny using her almighty vines to fling me across town for being late to practice."

And with a forced giggle, Hay Lin walked out behind her friend, a sickening feeling of guilt twisting up in her stomach for the dangerous lie she had just told.

GIRLTALKPOWERPRACTICEGIRLTALKPOWERPRACTICEGIRLTALKPOWERP

Irma and Hay Lin leaned back against the chain-link fence and faced their very impatient looking friends, panting from all the running they had to do to get there on time.

"Now that everyone's _finally _here," Will started, and Irma could vaguely hear Cornelia mutter, "And I thought Will was the late one." "GUARDIANS UNITE!"

And the two girls were enveloped in the banes of their existences, letting their rightful pieces of their souls fit into the puzzles that were their lives. Clear blue water took a hold of its princess, and Irma sighed as all of problems went away just for that moment. But as her transformation was nearly complete, she couldn't help noticing the little bubble of contempt it gave her before settling her form on the ground once again.

Hay Lin watched as her friend stood there, giving of the glow of a true guardian…a _happy _one. And as the winds picked up around her own body, she smiled contentedly as the memories of her morbid vision ceased to exist. And as the air started to settle around her, it gave a reproachful howl as her feet touched ground once more.

"Taranee, you go with Hay Lin! Cornelia you go with Irma! Let's go!" Will shouted, going into full-fledged leader mode.

Hay Lin took off into the air as flames started licking at Taranee's hands. _I never realized just how freeing flying could be, _she thought. And then she saw the fireballs whizzing right on past her head.

"Come _on _Hay Lin!" she vaguely head Taranee's cries from down below. "You've gotta at least _try _to fight back!"

Hay Lin sighed, gathering up all of her strength into one big gust of wind…

(meanwhile, with Cornelia and Irma…)

"Oh yeah? Well at least I don't have a creepy nerd for a stalker!" Cornelia shouted, sending a clod of dirt hurtling toward Irma.

"Well at least I don't have a boyfriend who's way too macho for his own good!" Irma shouted back, sucking all of the water out of a nearby puddle and sending it into the dirt, causing it to fall to the ground.

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Cornelia screeched. And then a torrent of vines started to shoot up from the ground…

"This is not going to end well," Irma prophesized under her breath.

(Back with Hay Lin)

Hay Lin had never felt so much power in her life. And she loved it. She wanted more of it, to do something…destructive with it…her eyes were focused on the spheres of fire burning ever closer to her, but her mind was somewhere else. Her mind was not hers anymore. And before she knew it, she sent her gust of power flying…but not over to the fire…

(Back with Irma)

The vine just kept growing higher and higher, and Irma's eyes just got wider and wider. And then she got an idea. Sending the earth beneath her rumbling, water burst forth…right under Cornelia. The vines were swallowed up by the ground once again as the guardian of earth lost her concentration and was sent up, up and away, as the stream of water just grew and grew and grew.

"Okay, you win! Now let me down!" Cornelia screeched. Satisfied, Irma lowered her to the ground again.

"What's wrong Corny? Can't take a little splash?" Irma said at the look of horror painted on her friend's face. And then Cornelia, mouth agape, pointed over Irma's shoulder. Irma turned around, and way too late, saw Hay Lin's barrel of wind heading right for her…

Throwing up her hands, she summoned all of the water she could, but it wasn't enough to brace her. The wind wrapped around her, suffocating her, lifting her practically out of herself and into the air, binding her, twisting her to the breaking point, up until Will realized what was going on.

"HAY LIN! STOP!"

Hay Lin looked at what she had done. Calling her power back, she flew over and caught Irma as she fell out of the sky, struggling to breathe, the purple tinge of bruises starting to form wherever there was a spare patch of skin. The other three guardians stood around as Hay Lin held her best friend and whispered, "What have I done…what's happening to me?"

Yay! Another cliffy! Lol im getting good at this! R&R as always, please!


	5. Water's Rage AKA Candracar, We Have A

Hey everybody! Thanks to scottgrub, TheWaterElement, & Yuki3x3 for reviewing! This chapter is going to give you some more insight into Irma's problem since Hay Lin's has pretty much gone off with a good start. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH…even though I do hope to be the proud owner of a copy of the GBA game soon! Lol

Chapter 5

Water's Rage AKA Candracar, We Have A Problem

Cornelia was the first one to step up. Walking over to her friend's shaking head; she knelt down and put a cautious arm around Hay Lin's shoulders, staring down at the water guardian's battered body. A wave of pity stabbed right at her heart, and she tore her eyes away, turning instead to Hay Lin. The only thing she gave off was wave upon wave of shock. Cornelia felt for her. She knew the last thing her friend would want to believe was that she had knowingly done this to her fellow guardian…and more importantly, her best friend. Cornelia sighed. She didn't want to be the one to break it to her, but someone had to. So she took a deep breath and let her lips part.

"Hay Lin…what…what _happened?_"

Hay Lin bit her lip so hard she felt warm blood tickling her skin, hiding her tears from the world. She damned sadness inside of her mind, damned it for giving her away…damned herself for causing so much pain. She just looked at Cornelia, her face contorted in the emotional train wreck of pain and regret and confusion and whispered, "I don't know Cornelia…I don't know…I didn't mean it…I swear I didn't…please…believe me Cornelia." And then she closed her eyes and hugged Irma's body closer to her, as if hoping that her friend would awaken and douse her with a torrent of the bright blue stuff and wash away her mistake and sin.

Will held up the Heart silently, and the girls were just that once again: just girls. Hay Lin just felt her power leave her, and when she was sure it was all long gone, with Cornelia's help, lifted Irma's motionless form off the ground and started off toward the Lair house.

WATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWA

_Oooooh, why do I feel like Corny really _did _fling me across town? _Those were the first words flooding the mind of Irma Lair as her senses came rushing back to her. She sat up and found herself in her bedroom, bunches of bandages binding her wrists and shoulders. And then she saw the little white piece of paper tucked onto her nightstand.

_Irma,_

_We would have stayed till you woke up, but Cornelia had babysitting duty and it's family night at Will's. I'll call you a little later, okay? Hope you feel better girl!_

_Luv ya,_

_Taranee_

Irma smiled at this, and then she let it die. Why hadn't Hay Lin even been mentioned? And then it flooded back to her like the water she loved so dearly: Cornelia's face…the gust of wind…Hay Lin's expression of boundless joy in the power she had just exhibited…and the searing pain of her best friend's wrath.

Placing the note back on her bedside table, Irma got up, ignoring the still pounding pain of the purple blotches beneath her wrappings, and walked out the door, her mind set on nothing but getting those answers her poor mind was begging her for.

WATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWA

Dipping her hands into the water, Irma let the feeling sooth her, let happiness enter her entire being, brushing every thought right to the back of her mind, forcing meditation to thrum throughout her soul. Letting her eyelids slide shut, she put every last brain cell and train of thought she possessed into the task at hand.

_Oracle of Candracar…_she thought, telling what remained of her powers to go into what she told herself what her current matter of life or death. _Oracle of Candracar, please, please hear me. Hear my call for help. Hear my desperation. _She let out a long deep breath before she let her plea roll on. _I don't know what's going on with me…or my powers…or my friends. Are we being tested? Are you trying to figure out how much we can stand, if we're strong enough to continue being the guardians of the veil? Because if that's the case…I don't know if I can. I don't know why you decided to give me the test of emotion if that's what you even did. Maybe I'm not cut out for this if that's what it takes to be a protector of this and every other universe. Just…let me know…okay? If I wasn't meant to save the world with my friends, then let them be rid of the unnecessary baggage…that would be me. _

And before she could even say thanks for listening, Irma felt the most unfamiliar sensation. It was her powers, that much she knew. But this was different. They weren't infusing her with strength or giving her the euphoria of rejuvenation. They were…trying to tell her something. Something tainted, something angry, something…violent, something hostile, something so heart wrenching Irma couldn't even begin to put the sadness of her element into words right then. She tried to make sense of it all, but everything was just one big hurricane, and she was smack in the middle of its eye.

She yanked her hands back, trying to dry them off and get the heck out of there, but she opened her eyes up only to find that they were still floating away in the rippling blue. She pulled harder and harder, but her hands might as well have been blocks of cement. The water bubbled, losing its glisten, warping into darker and darker hues of a once brilliant blue. It was calling her, clinging to her, begging her…begging her to come and become a part of it, to _be _the water…now and forever. It spoke to her in the language only she could comprehend, screaming in agony that it needed her, it couldn't go on without her, her strength would help it in its ultimate quest…

Her head went under without so much as any warning. It was pulling her in, and she was succumbing to its hypnosis as it offered continually to purge her of her dark thoughts for now and ever if she just allowed herself to become its ultimate weapon.

It dragged her in until she fully submerged, not so much as a hair reaching out to the surface, and she could feel its happiness as it took a hold of her, wrapped itself around her like a caring mother's arms, and she let her eyes start to slide shut, her futile attempts at struggle as distant a memory as the day she become a guardian.

(meanwhile, up in Candracar)

The Oracle was staring at Irma's predicament through a screen as blue as the water she controlled, shaking his head futilely. _I wish I could answer you guardian. You have proven yourself sincere in your testament. And yet all I can do is watch you…I am sorry…fight it, princess of the water. Fight it until the day that you die. I just hope that day will not be today…_

(back with our poor water girl)

Irma was slipping into a happy numbness when she felt the water start to pour into her involuntarily parted lips. And then she realized her dear, dear element had her turned upside down, her arms crossed at the wrists in the pose of a person in their coffin at a funeral. Flailing wildly, she struggled to close her lips, struggled to get her hands apart, struggled to do _anything. _

_Oh God help me, _she thought. Faces started flashing throughout her mind…there was Will…Cornelia…Elyon…Taranee…Hay Lin…

And when that smiling face appeared in her thoughts, the water gave a mighty, resounding roar, releasing its sickening hold and practically pushing Irma back up to fresh air. Heaving, she pulled herself back onto dry land, letting herself fall back and just stare up at the color layered sky. The water gave her one last burble of serious contempt as it settled once again. Rubbing her ocean blue eyes and wringing out her sweater, she ran the whole way home, never looking back at now pure mass of liquid, shivering all the way.

WATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWATERSRAGEWA

RING!

"Hello?"

"Hey Irma! It's Taranee."

"Hey Tara. What's up?" Irma said through chattering teeth. Even with the warmest shower and biggest mug of hot cocoa she'd ever had, she might as well have been an ice cube, cuz she sure felt like one.

"Are you okay? You sound like you just came back from the North Pole."

"Yup, and Santa says you've sure been good this year," Irma joked.

"Very funny. But seriously, are you okay? I mean from earlier?"

"Yeah, I'm good. My bruises are already clearing up. Um…how's Hay Lin?" she managed to choke out.

"Not that great," Taranee said. "We're all actually at the Silver Dragon right now, trying to figure out what happened and snap her out of crying."

"Oh my gosh. Can you put her on?"

"I'll try." Irma waited, vaguely hearing Taranee tell Hay Lin she was on the phone. When no one answered her, she sighed and spoke back into the receiver.

"She's not up to it right now."

"Should I come over there?"

"No. You need your rest, and if she can't face you over the phone, imagine if you show up in person."

"Point taken. Thanks for checking up on me Tara."

"Anytime. Wanna meet at The Golden for lunch tomorrow?"

"I'll be there. Tell Hay Lin I luv her & I know she didn't mean what she did."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

Irma hung up the phone, and as she did just happened to glance over at the hand that was holding it. Her other flying to her mouth in horror, she found that she was looking at the symbol of her element, tattooed on the back of her main water-wielding hand. But instead of blue, the symbol was a midnight black. And before she could grab the phone again, it melted away, seeping under her skin, and Irma could have sworn she heard a bubble of contempt.

Okay theres a nice long chapter for ya'll. Hope you liked. If you did, tell me in a review! Lol but seriously R&R as always I wont update till I have at least eleven reviews.


	6. Golden Revelations & A Restless Heart

Hey everybody! Thanks to scott, TheWaterElement & harryrulesmyworld for reviewing! Some of your questions will be answered in the next couple of chapters. So here's chapter 6 for ya'll! Enjoy!

Irma: WAIT JUST ONE SECOND! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ME?

Me: You can't just read the story like the rest of everyone to find out?

Irma: NOT WHEN YOU'RE PRACTICALLY KILLING ME OFF HERE!

Me:::sigh: you do know that you aren't really living this, right?

Irma: Oh…umm…right…

Me: ANYWAYS, how about reading the disclaimer Irma?

Irma: Love to. :clears throat: KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own WITCH (wish she did, then I'd FINALLY have a boyfriend instead of creepy little Martin) or Daniel Powter's song Bad Day.

Me: Thanks Irma! Now on with the story!

Chapter 6

Golden Revelations & A Restless Heart

The gleaming glass doors of The Golden shimmered into Irma's vision as the echoes of her footsteps bouncing off the concrete fell into the most irritating repetition that the water girl just had to think about how much less annoying it would be if Hay Lin had just flown them there on a lofty, leisurely pocket of air.

Hay Lin…Irma shook her head despondently as the image of her friend's normally chipper, smiling face materialized in the midst of her mind's eye. And then Hay Lin's shining pearly whites started to grit so hard Irma could almost hear their squeaks in reality. The dancing almond eyes she'd envied from the day they met, so free, so able to display emotion and not regret it later, so unlike her own turquoise orbs, gained the greatest fire Irma had ever had the chance to marvel, like the flood of flames that had threatened to devour Will that joyfully cursed Halloween night. Irma hated life when she knew nothing of what was falling apart around her…and she hated herself, too; even thought the almighty beings of Candracar had transformed her into a keeper of a broken, limitless element, she never felt more powerless when knowledge just wouldn't open up its door to her…and when Cornelia was right there, front & center to point it out and rub it in Irma's face, tearstained only on the insides of her soul.

But before her train of thought could roll on and plunge her further into her own little ocean of emotion, Irma pushed every thought that was cluttering her mind into a dustpan and dumped it out the windows of her head just in time to pull open the heavy panes of glass and take in the hustle that was The Golden.

"IRMA!" The water princess cringed as the call sliced through her soul's perfectly contented silence. Swiveling her head to the right, her eyes drank in the sight that was Cornelia, standing up next to a table and waving her arms like a chicken trying to escape the chopping block.

"What's up guys?" Irma asked, pulling up a chair and grabbing a cookie off the plate set in front of her. As the scraping of Cornelia's chair sliding back into place reached her ears, she glanced up & took a look around the table. "Um…where's Hay Lin?"

Will's fiery mane of red hair snapped up from her mug of coffee and gave Irma a long hard look, her eyes refusing to meet her's.

"Well…we just…thought it would be better if she sat this meeting out," Will told her, quickly lifting her mug to her parted lips in a futile effort to ward off any more questions.

Irma wasn't buying it. "Is this about…you know, yesterday?"

Cornelia gave her look that plainly said, "Well, duh. I mean, why else would we make sure she didn't come with us?" But Taranee spoke out before she could put those thoughts into words.

"See, that…wasn't exactly 'Hay Lin behavior.' We think something's wrong with her powers…or her. We didn't want her to hear that from us, or from anyone else. Either way it's dangerous. You or any one of us could be her next victims-"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" Irma thundered as quietly as she could without attracting too much attention. "Hay Lin would NEVER attack her friends on purpose! Not without good reason! And even then she wouldn't do it! She's one of our best friends! After all we've been through…I've known her almost my entire life. She is my sister if you take away the part about having to be related by blood for the title to count." She paused to take a deep breath, all of the remaining guardians staring at her in disbelief. Of all her outbursts, this one had by far been the most impacting. "I guess…I can't believe that she would do it because she wanted to. I know her too well…or maybe I just don't know her at all anymore…"

She felt Cornelia's cold yet sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Well, we're here to find out just what the hell is going on," she said, turning to Will. She nodded, and the rest of the girls huddled close into a circle, Irma following Cornelia's lead so that they all hovered over Will. No one else paid any mind, thinking they were huddled poring over some teen magazine or something. Only one silhouetted figure noticed them at all, sitting at the farthest back corner of the diner…

Will closed her eyes, and the rest of the girls just gave a look of deep concentration toward her open palm. She curled up her fingers, and with a muffled blast of hot pink light unfurled her fist, giving way for the brilliant jewel that was The Heart of Candracar to rise up above her palm. She spoke to it softly, in a barely audible whisper in a language the other three guardians could not even begin to comprehend. The crystal just remained dim, until a light bulb clicked on in Irma's brain. She fixed her mind on the image of Hay Lin's power outburst and repeated one word inside her head, over and over and over again: Why?

A silver glow overtook the sphere, and Irma smiled contentedly. But instead of giving their eyes an image to wonder about, spirited threads of blue began to interweave the silver circle, and pretty soon they had a double thread of color surrounding the Heart. But then the silver patches began to spread, devouring the turquoise snatches, feeding on them until there was just a ring of silver wind. Irma just kept staring, knowing there was something more to this. And there was, a lot more than she could have imagined there ever would be. But all hey eyes drunk in was the flickering image of two aurameres, one blue, one silver, dimming until they were no more, crashing into one another, and then ceasing to exist altogether. And with the loudest bang that only the four themselves could hear, Irma was thrust backward, shooting out of her chair and onto floor. The Heart fell out of the air, dimming once again, and Will snatched it up off the table and absorbed it into herself once more, ensuring that their secret was still just that: a secret.

Taranee jumped off her chair, breaking the circle further and helping Irma back up.

"Well, we know one thing's for sure: something's going on up in Candracar, and its affecting us, or mainly you and Hay Lin, here," Will said all leader-like, not knowing just how right…and dismally wrong she really was right then.

"That just proves my point: it wasn't Hay Lin's fault," Irma said firmly.

Will sighed. "We don't know for sure, Irma. She could very well have made the decision consciously." Seeing the death look the water guardian was giving her, she quickly added, "But tell you what. Tomorrow we'll call up Hay Lin and go see the Oracle. He'll straighten out this mess."

"Like he'd actually give us a straight answer," Cornlelia muttered. "Don't know if you've noticed Will, but the guy talks in the _worst _kind of code. If he says the sky is blue it probably really means the tree is purple." The rest of WITCH looked at her like marbles had just started pouring out her ears (A/N: get it? Heehee) "What? Go ahead, try and tell me I'm not right."

"It still won't hurt to try," Will said in a _very _final tone, and it was one of the rare occasions that Cornelia actually shut her mouth and kept it that way, sparking a very wide smile from Irma. "But you are kinda right."

"I have to get going," Taranee said.

"We all should head out. I'll call ya'll tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Irma answered for everyone. And the four guardians slapped their bill on the table and left The Golden chattering away, Irma not being able to help shooting a look at the farthest corner table of the joint out of some sort of instinct…some kind of bond, really…

As soon as they were out those doors, the figure seated at that very table shifted back into the rays of sunlight from their hiding place among the shadows. Taking one long, last despondent sip of their soda, they paid their bill and stood up. Walking toward the double doors, like a rain cloud hung right over her head threatening to burst like her eyes filled with tears, Hay Lin left the restaurant in a run.

Yay I finished chappy 6! Lol sorry it took a little long. I wrote, wasn't happy with it, so I rewrote it. I hinted at something that was wrong with the girls in this one. I'll give a cookie to anyone who can guess what it is! R&R as always please! Next update will come once the number of reviews hits 19!


	7. Flying Through The Rain

Hey everybody! Wow I was really happy with all the reviews I got for last chapter & the story in general. Thanks guys! Ya'll just got yourselves and update! So here's Chapter 7 for you!

Hay Lin: Okay, now it's MY turn to complain! You couldn't have just stuck with tormenting Irma, huh?

Nope! Now, could you please just read the disclaimer?

Hay Lin: Okay, okay: KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own us or the books or the show…you get the idea. If she did, we'd have a five season contract and be ready to sign for season six.

Well, it's true. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Flying Through the Rain AKA Reconciliation?

It had been exactly twenty-four hours since Hay Lin had blindly run home bawling from The Golden, twenty-four hours since three of the guardians had voiced their image of her as traitorous and dangerous, and only one of them had stood up and said that the whole thing should just be forgotten. Only your best friend would do something like that for you, and Hay Lin's did.

But now, as she was perched on the roof of her house/restaurant, her stick-like legs dangling over the edge, she couldn't but feel betrayed by Irma, too. She had spent the whole of last night having a staring contest with her phone instead of her paper, waiting for Irma to call her up and tell her that they were going to try and go up to Candracar the next day to figure out what was going on with their powers. But the phone hadn't rung all night, all morning. They had said they would let her know. They also said they considered her their sister. Well,

So before she could fall further into a tornado of depression and do something she would later regret, Hay Lin stood up on the edge of the rooftop, looked down onto the street below, and jumped.

(Meanwhile with Irma & the others…)

Irma took her place among the circle on the grass and clasped Cornelia & Taranee's hands, squeezing them until her knuckles turned paper-white. Will stood in the center of them, the mystical Heart of Candracar hovering above her palm.

"Ready?" The other three girls nodded their heads, and Will signaled them to close their eyes. "HEART OF CANDRACAR!" she boomed. "TAKE US THERE!"

And as the familiar pink aura enveloped their bodies, Irma sent a silent little plea to the Oracle: _If you help us to understand, I promise I will be the guardian you want me to be. I'll do anything, I'll give up my powers, my _life _here on Earth…if you'll just let us help our friend…_

And up in Candracar, the Oracle nodded in recognition of Irma's words, and with a rush of neon pink they vanished from Earth and into the world of Candracar, the world of their parallel home. But as they went, all of the girls couldn't help but feel that they'd forgotten something…

Hay Lin let herself hurtle toward the concrete splayed below her, and before her head could crash down onto it, she soared up toward the clouds, like a little pencil of a rocket just launching into flight. And for reasons she would never be able to explain, she twirled around in the air and flew off toward the cemetery, letting the wind take her where it would.

Irma opened her eyes to the towering pearly columns of the magnificent halls of Candracar. Her eyes swept the room for the Oracle, but he was nowhere to be seen. "HELLO?" Irma called, her cry bouncing off the walls and back. But none of the great sages came scurrying to where they stood, expectantly. _Guess this is just one of those missions we have to figure out for ourselves. _So without one word to the others, Irma took off straight down the nearest hallway, Will and the others burning tile at her heels. Room after room after room whipped right on past her until finally, she stopped, Cornelia slamming into her back, Will and Taranee into hers like a big long row of dominos. Irma squinted into the room, for a midnight black draped its entire interior. Something was wrong; Candracar wasn't supposed to have any dark rooms. Hell, Irma wasn't even sure night fell up there.

"Taranee, give us some light?" Flames began to lick the dark away moments after Irma had voiced her request. She ventured into the empty space, the fire following close behind, circling round her head. After a little way she stopped, feeling that she was in the center of the room. Irma just waited there, waited for someone to come to her, something to happen, something to make her understand…

…and all too soon it did. Feeling her body leave the floor, Irma's eyes, still struggling to adjust to the dimming light, tried to fall upon her friends again, but they couldn't. Why? Because her friends weren't there anymore.

"WILL!" she cried as she rose on invisible air. "TARANEE! CORNELIA! SOMEBODY!" But not even the flames were there to keep her company anymore. The poor girl was all alone, and as she whirled her arms like she was trying to swim back down to solid ground, gravity froze, leaving her untouched, still flapping her arms aimlessly now. She _knew _someone was watching her. She _knew _that someone knew what she had come to Candracar for in the first place. _So why aren't they helping me! _she snarled to herself. But instead of becoming consumed by her impatience, Irma just listened to the silence, hoping it would yield her answers rather than another clue to a question.

As if on some invisible cue, a beautiful silver orb glistened into view, right in front of the stunned water girl's face. It was a mesmerizing thing, ripples of pure, free vibe bounced around the room like a little girl skipping off to nowhere, like Hay Lin did all the time…

_Of course, _Irma thought. _It's one of those auramere things, the ones that hold the essence of our powers…and I'll bet you anything this is Hay Lin's. _The symbol of the air etched itself into the metallic surface, almost like it was winking at the princess of the sea. For a reason only Irma knew, she smiled back to it, lifted up her hand, and let her fingers close around the perfect sphere.

_This isn't my element, _she thought as she held it. _I shouldn't be doing this. Who knows what kind of otherworldly disaster I could cause? But this could be my ticket to helping Hay Lin…_ So Irma let the auramere hover in her loose grip, assuring herself over and over and over again: _Nothing bad will happen, nothing bad will happen, nothing bad will happe-_

And then something bad happened. The brilliant auramere clouded over, and Irma could feel every ounce of breath and air she had stored up inside her being sucked from her frail form, feeding the orb of power in front of her. Her fingers became lost inside of the sea of growing silver, then her arm, traveling up to her shoulder and spreading on and on. The gray veneer was just freezing her eye over when out of the corner of her eye she saw her own auramere, a deep sapphire orb, cowering over in a corner of the room. _Come to me, _Irma thought desperately as her left eye's stare became a permanent one. _Help me…please…_

And through the silver shielding her face, Irma could see the circle of blue zipping…away from her? _NO NO NO! _Irma thought. _WRONG WAY! Please…come back…I'll never, EVER misuse you ever again…just help me…_

But it didn't come back, and Irma was now a statue, a silver statue, home to the auramere of the air.

"IRMA!" She heard Cornelia's scream echoing behind her. "WILL, USE THE HEART! NOW!"

A sound like a bomb going off rang throughout the entirety of Candrcar, even the Oracle and Tibor's ears perked up at the noise from their delving, deep meditation. The last thing Irma felt was the cool, cleansing feel as the silver world around her melted and she fell from the air, breath stealing into her lungs once again.

Cornelia rushed forward and caught Irma's numbing form out of the air. "IRMA! Can you hear me! IRMA!"

Irma cracked open her eyes and stood up wearily. "Yeah Corny, I hear you."

"What the hell happened?" Will said. "You were there and then you disappeared and then you were the living statue!"

"_You _guys were the ones who disappeared!" Irma retaliated, her voice ceasing to fail her.

"Whatever," Taranee said, stepping forward. "Just tell us everything that happened."

So Irma recalled the whole sordid scene. When she was finished, every single one of her friend's jaws was _this _close to hitting the floor.

"Something is _seriously _wrong up here," Will said. "But before we go interrogate the Oracle, let me ask _you _a question: why did your auramere run away from you?"

"Well Will, I don't think aurameres really have legs," Irma said, returning to her old demeanor. "But I…don't know. I know I've misused my powers before…but I really thought that all had been forgiven…"

Cornelia put a hand on Irma's shoulder. "Let's just go find the Oracle," she whispered.

But before any of them could take one step forward, the Oracle gave a wave of his hand, and the four girls were sent plummeting back down, down, down to Earth.

Hay Lin knelt by her grandmother's gravestone, praying to the old woman for guidance. When she had dried up all of her tears, the girl caressed the grass around the headstone lovingly, picked herself up, and shot back into the air, feeling her grandmother's hand guiding her all the way to destination number two.

"I think I've had enough world-hopping for one day," Taranee grumbled. "I don't think we're exactly welcome up there at the moment."

"No kidding," Cornelia agreed. "I don't know about you guys, but I have to get going. Call you tomorrow?"

"You know it," Will answered. "See you later."

The two girls left, and it was just Will and Irma left.

"Irma…are you all right?"

Irma faced Will, giving her the trademark smile she practically had patented. "I'm fine," she said. "We've been through worse, right?"

"Right," Will said slowly. "Well, unless you want me grounded, I have to get home. I'll call you tomorrow."

Irma laughed. "Okay. See you later." Waving goodbye to Will's retreating figure, Irma set off for her own house, taking the long way to enjoy the blanket of storm clouds covering the sky.

Hay Lin was about four blocks from home when it began to rain. Ice-cold raindrops whipped her wherever they could reach, pelting her so hard her whole being began to sting viciously…until they disappeared, that is.

For about a foot around her entire figure, no rain fell, just clear, waterless air. Hay Lin, sighed, knowing she was defeated. "Where are you, Irma?" she whispered.

Irma emerged from the shadows, allowing herself to bathe in her own power. She looked up into Hay Lin's face that was staring down at her, keeping her right hand steady to keep the rain from falling on her friend's sunshine anymore.

"Irma…just let the rain fall. I don't deserve…this. I don't deserve…I don't deserve _you. _I damn near _killed _you," Hay Lin said through gritted teeth. She descended to the concrete below, her self-hatred overtaking her, and in a flurry of emotion that cascaded just as fast as the rain that could not touch her, fell to her knees, digging her sufficiently long nails into her pale white skin and holding them there until she saw beads of crimson popping up from around them.

Irma ran over, yanked Hay Lin's hand from her arm, and gripped her wrist harder than she thought she even could. "HAY LIN YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND! IF ANYONE DESERVES NOTHING IT'S ME! IT WAS ALL JUST ONE BIG MISTAKE, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? I WILL NEVER STOP BEING YOUR FRIEND! I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE! You will never be alone…as long as I am here to say anything about it."

Hay Lin looked up into her friend's face, streaked with rain and tears. "But I don't deserve a friend like you," Hay Lin protested.

"But you have one," Irma replied. Hay Lin smiled, taking Irma's outstretched hand.

"Friends?"

Irma smiled. "When did we ever stop?"

And they walked off through the rain, hand in hand, so blind to the danger that was standing right next to each of them…

Okay guys I'm sorry to say I'm going to be taking a SHORT hiatus on this story, just until Saturday when Thanksgiving madness has blown over. But I promise you a nice long chapter when I'm back! R&R as always!


	8. Rumors Rumors Are No Fun

Hey everybody! Thanks for reviewing! I got THE greatest idea, so here's chapter nine!

Irma: Well woo-hoo, now we both know we've got it coming to us.

You ain't seen nothing yet! Disclaimer, please?

Hay Lin: KaNdRaKaRgrl doesn't own us…however; she would like to own those new happy meal toys out at McDonald's now through December 15th!

I'd rather have all of them, but I just got Elyon a couple days ago! Okay, I'm done. On with the show!

Chapter 9

Rumors Rumors Are No Fun

"…and so the introduction of gladiators further illustrates the human need for at least one representation of some form of violent conflict in entertainment." Mr. Collins let the tone of his voice drop, and the class heaved a silent sigh of relief. "Which further goes to explain the reason behind…" The class groaned, and Mr. Collins grinned evilly. He loved letting the class think he was done with lectures, only to plunge right back into the sleep-inducing speeches that he wished one day someone would _actually _listen to for a change.

But apparently today would not be that day. Sure, the kids in front were _trying _to pay attention out of fear of a trip to Knickerbocker's (sp?) office, but the back of the classroom was too busy adding to the gossip pipelines that kept Sheffield Institute's social circles spinning. And who better to help keep the drama flowing fast than Hay Lin and Irma? So about three rows apart and with sheets of paper void of notes about Roman Empire, the girls decided to let Mr. Collins keep thinking he was talking to the wall and engaged the art of note-passing.

Hay Lin had become so engrossed with staring at her desk that she about jumped a foot in the air out of her seat when a crumpled ball of paper hit her in the side of the head. She just bent down, picked it up off the tiled floor, rolled her eyes at Irma's sad attempt to suppress an outburst of laughter, and unfolded the latest batch of secrets.

_So did you hear about Connie Whyndam and Todd Lokari?_

Hay Lin scribbled no and chucked the little paper ball back to Irma, pointedly aiming for head and missing by a mile. It arrived back in about five seconds, Irma's pen-wielding hand flying like the wind Hay Lin manipulated with a flick of her finger.

_Well apparently Connie's parents were out of town for the week and Todd's had gone on vacation, and the power had gone out at his house. He had this major term paper due, so Connie said he could work on it at her place. He finished it at like one in the morning, so Connie said he could sleep in the guest room. Well, her parents her parent's flight came in early, and they hadn't woken up yet, so you can only imagine…_

Before Hay Lin could read the rest of Heatherfield's latest teenage drama, she found her pen in her hand, and words scrawling themselves across the paper. She didn't even know what they said, and yet there they were, writing themselves a novel. All she was the ink, the ink that only held…a perfectly normal response. Hay Lin sighed contentedly, her worries vanishing. She continued her reply with her spirits soaring higher and higher until a shadow slid over her form, covering her tiny body as well as piece of paper it was hunched over. She looked up to see Mr. Collins looming over her, holding his hand out for the note she was scribbling on.

(Up in Candrcar)

Tibor looked up from the reflecting pool to face the Oracle, whose face was completely unreadable. "Is it not possible to prevent this? Why must it occur now? They are in a public place, and-

The Oracle looked up at his faithful aide with solemn eyes. "It is not going to happen now, Tibor. _They_ are only biding their restlessness, building up every ounce of hate they can before they strike. It will not happen until they can be sure it will be the last thing to happen. I cannot prevent what will happen now, and what will happen soon. The girls must open their eyes to what is happening, before it is too late…and _they _take complete control…"

(Back on Earth)

"Well, how about we see what juicy secrets our biggest gossip hounds decided to dig up for us this week?" Mr. Collins said, snatching the note from Hay Lin's trembling fingers. He began to read the whole sordid story while Hay Lin shot a _very _apologetic look at Irma, who had her head in her hands. But it wasn't because of the fact that she'd been caught passing notes. No, Irma's head was beginning to throb viciously, all thoughts vanishing from her mind. And all of a sudden her vision went, the only thing she could was a vast white expanse of nothingness and…a silver tornado…growing bigger…coming right toward her…cruel laughter…an aura of maniacal satisfaction looming over her…a tidal wave…rippling towards nothing…and an explosion like no other the world had ever known…

Consciousness jerked her back to the real world, where Mr. Collins was just finishing up letting the world know of Hay Lin's half finished response. "That sounds like an ugly ending," he said in a mock high-pitched attempt at a girly voice. "But of course, you'd know all about stuff like that, wouldn't you?" Mr. Collins froze at what he had just read. For a minute Irma and Hay Lin's worlds completely stopped, and they were left staring only at each other.

And then the bell rang, time began again, and the rest of the students filed out the door.

RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN

Irma was standing her ground, giving the person standing in front of her the best death glare she could possibly give.

"Sometimes…I really hate you," she whispered. She shook her head back and forth, and then looked up once again. "Sometimes…I wonder why you were chosen. I wonder what it would be like…if you weren't even here." She paused, whipping up a wave of water and commanding that it stand at attention behind her. "Sometimes," she said, her hands raised above her head. "I wish," she closed her eyes. "I knew who you were." And she let the floating water crash into her mirror, the clamor of the glass shattering the most comforting experience she'd had in days.

RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN RUMORSRUMORSARENOFUNRUMORSRUMORSARENOFUN

Hay Lin punched in Irma's house phone number for the fifth time that afternoon, and after three long rings, the familiar click of speakerphone sounded in her ear, just in time to hear what sounded like a piece of glass clatter to the floor.

"Irma?"

"Hey Hay Lin," Irma said, and Hay Lin could hear her footsteps shuffling across the floor, gathering up what Hay Lin assumed to be glass. "What's up?"

"Listen, I'm…I'm sorry about what I wrote. I was totally joking, and I was about to write that when evil Mr. Collins came over…"

"No, its okay…you were totally right, anyway…ugly is something I would know all about…"

Hay Lin's stomach felt like it was twisting up into an angry knot, taut with guilt and worry. "Irma, you…you haven't really been yourself lately. Is something going on?"

Irma's mind was racing. _I should tell her, _she thought. _She's my best friend. If I can't tell her, who _can _I spill my guts to? _So Irma parted her lips to say exactly what had been going on, but something stopped her. She felt her breath catch up in her throat audibly, and for the next minute, no breath entered her lungs, no breath escaped them. And then water came shooting up her throat in a thrusting wave, splattering the floor, choking her, leaving her over and over again, warning her, _commanding _her, that no one should ever know…that her suffering _must _be silent…no matter what she thought of it.

"Irma? IRMA?" Hay Lin was getting anxious now. "IRMA! What is going on over there!"

"Help me." That was all Irma had time to say before another round of water came flying through her stubbornly sealed lips, and her finger traveled to the off button, pushing it down at the mercy of her own self.

Yay! Another cliffy! Lol yes I know I'm evil. Another chapter as soon as review numbers hit 44! R&R and ye shall receive!


	9. Ready or Not, Here I Come

Hey everybody! Thanks for all the great reviews! Still have no clue what's going on with the girls? Well, maybe this chapter will help clear things up.

Irma: Could someone PLEASE tell me why I'm throwing up water, of all things?

:sighs: You guys are here to READ THE DISCLAIMER. If you have any complaints, you can go and fill out a comment card…not like I'd read it…

Hay Lin: KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own Aly & AJ's song Rush or us…if she did, do you think this story would be on this site instead of on the air?

Thank you! And now, on with the story!

Chapter 10

Ready or Not, Here I Come

The line went dead. Hay Lin slammed the phone back down on its receiver and sprang up from her seat, bolting toward her bedroom door to run as fast as her little legs could carry her over to Irma's house. She was almost there, tripping over her legwarmers the whole way, when the long, glass windowpane behind her slid open to reveal the rushing winds of the outside world. Her frail bedroom door flew shut, and the last thing she could see before it did was a flash of silver whipping around in the bathroom across the hall…

(Back with poor Irma)

Irma's form was on all fours, kneeling on the hard, wooden surface of the floor, surrounded by a puddle of clear blue water. The weather was completely normal, and yet she found herself shaking uncontrollably, shivering as if someone had just dumped a bucket of freezing water on her. Her eyes were left staring, just staring straight into the ripples that came with every blast of cold. _What is _wrong _with me? _She asked herself. Finally, she summoned up what strength she had to lean back against the head of her bed, and her left hand traveled up to her neck, gripping the shining silver symbol of water that hung around it. _What is wrong with _you?

(Back with Hay Lin)

Hay Lin desperately twisted at the silver doorknob, which had twisted itself into locking and wouldn't come undone for anything. "Come _on,_" she growled angrily. Sighing, she threw up her hands in despair. "What is _wrong _with the world today?" she asked no one in particular. Regaining her composure, she turned to face the door once more. Hay Lin was getting out of there by hook or by crook, so she placed both hands on the wood and focused every single ounce of thought on the task at hand…

(Back with Irma)

By now, Irma had the floor clear of any trace of the clear blue stuff, but she had left the broken mirror as it was. Just thinking about what she had seen in the glass, and what she done to it because of it was enough to bring tears to her eyes. And for the first time since this had all begun, Irma let her tears fall, not caring if the world saw her…and not knowing just how much destruction revealing her emotions would bring…

(Back with Hay Lin, I know there's a lot of switching around, sorry)

CRASH! The door finally blew right off its hinges, clattering down the hall and down the stairs, coming to a grand, loud finale in the middle of the living room. Thinking of an explanation for her parents the _last _thing on her mind right then, Hay Lin hightailed it for the stairs, only to slip; fall and land on her back in a puddle of…water? Getting up, she turned the corner and took a look inside of the bathroom.

The silver cold water knob had been turned up all the way, so the sink was poring over in little streams instead monstrous rivers, like a person's built up tears finally freely sliding down their face…

Hay Lin shook the thoughts from her head, turning the faucet off, using the magic of the wind to lift it off the floor and throw it out the open window, and practically flew down the stairs and out of the house for Irma's, passing a man looking up at the sunny sky, drenched, wondering where the rain had come from…when upstairs the silver faucet turned to the right of its own accord, letting the water flow where it would once more…

(At Irma's place…)

The blare of the doorbell jerked Irma from her crying spell. Wiping the tears from her face and shoving the chunks of glass under her bed, she went downstairs and unlocked the door to reveal her wiry Asian friend, who immediately jumped over the threshold and took Irma by the shoulders in a hold so strong both girls jumped a little in surprise.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED YOU HAD ME!" Hay Lin shrieked. Irma could only close her eyes and shake her head in apology. _I can't even _talk _to her, _Irma thought in despair. _What is wrong with me?_

"Irma, TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!" she cried, shaking her best friend like a rag doll. Irma looked into Hay Lin's eyes, and Hay Lin gasped at what she saw in Irma's. Pain, that was what Hay Lin saw, pain and endless misery…misery that no one knew but her.

"Why won't you tell us?" Hay Lin asked Irma, who was just staring back at her friend, trancelike. "Why won't you tell _me?_"

The water girl struggled helplessly within herself. The words were in her mouth, desperate to burst forth, but the water was there too, threatening to strangle her from within once again, but this time, it wouldn't let her off so easily with just a slap on the wrist again. But Irma didn't care. She had been tortured already, what difference would another bout of choking make? So, steeling herself with everything she had left, Irma opened her mouth and managed four words: "It…won't…let…me…"

"WHAT won't let you?" Hay Lin asked frantically, anxious now that they were _finally _getting somewhere. "Come on Irma, work with me here!"

Irma opened her mouth again. "I…I don't…know. Every time I try…something…the water…"

"What about water?" Hay Lin asked. But apparently, question time was over. Irma's body tensed up, she could feel it, feel it coming to get her again, only this time wouldn't be so mild. Her punishment for crying, for telling was coming, and all she could do was deal with it, her best friend there to bear witness to it all…

"Into your head, into your mind  
Out of your soul, race through your veins  
You can escape, you can escape…"

Irma fell against Hay Lin, everything started to throb, to ache. She could hear her best friend calling to her in the distance, even though she was right there with her. Her stomach knotted up tensely, her head brought back that terrible explosion, that tornado, that tidal wave…she couldn't fight it off, couldn't escape it…

And then she figured it out. Keeping her eyes shut tight, she brought the words running through her mind to life.

"Into your life, into your dreams,  
Out of the dark, so light again.  
You can exclaim, you can exclaim…"

She could feel Hay Lin's hand on her back, her words, her voice pleading her to come back, to please come back…but she couldn't…she _wouldn't…_

"Can You feel it, can you feel it,  
Rushin' through your hair,  
Rushin' through your head,  
Can you feel it, can you feel it,

Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,  
Be every color that you are,  
Into the rush now,  
You don't have to know how,  
Know it all before you'll try."

Irma's eyes shot open again, her head snapping toward Hay Lin immediately.

"Irma…what's happening to you? What's happening…to _us?_" she asked in a fearful whisper.

Irma was crying freely now, letting her friend see the torment she had suffered day in and day out. "Hay Lin…I…I wish I could answer you. But…I don't know. Something…something wants us to fight…"

"Wants us to fight?" the air girl whispered, dumbfounded.

"I…I saw a…tornado. And a tidal wave, and they…they were fighting. They were trying…trying to destroy each other…"

Hay Lin gasped, and Irma's stomach lurched. A searing sensation engulfed her hand, and she raised it up, horrified. That black symbol of water was coming again. But this time, it was etching itself into the water girl's hand instead of just appearing like the day water itself had gone completely mad, making it bleed…bleed black blood, as black as the symbol itself. Irma gritted her teeth through the burn of pain, while Hay Lin could only watch, petrified.

"More than you land spinning around,  
Lifting your feet right off the ground,  
You can't believe this is happening now…"

The sound of sirens blaring, moving fast saved Irma from revealing an unknown explanation. The girls followed the resounding roars until they came to Hay Lin's block…right in front of the Silver Dragon…

"Can You feel it, can you feel it,  
Rushin' through your hair,  
Rushin' through your head,  
Can you feel it, can you feel it…"

Hay Lin's heart stopped completely. Her entire house, as well as the restaurant lying below it, had been completely flooded. Irma's bleeding hand flew to her mouth in horror, feeling she had some connection to the forlorn water leaking out the windows. The girls could only stare in horror as a drainage company arrived, cranking their ladders up to the waterfalls above. Hay Lin's frail fingers laced through Irma's blackening ones, and all could do was watch as their lives just kept falling apart…

"Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,  
Be every color that you are,  
Into the rush now,  
You don't have to know how,  
Know it all before you'll try…"

Yay chapter 10 is up! Lol I'm so proud of myself…anyways, like? Don't like? Know what's going down? R&R and tell me! Next chapter will be up when I get 48 reviews!


	10. Lament of Limbo

Hey everybody! Thanks for reviewing! Sorry it's taken me a while to update (stupid history projects) No, what's happening isn't a comic thing. All the loose ends will be tied up in the end, don't worry. So here's chapter 11!

Hay Lin: You know what, I'm not even gonna bother to complain here…KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own us; she's just borrowing us to torture us with this insane plot…

Thanks…I think…okay then! On with show!

Chapter 11

Lament of Limbo

_Somewhere off in limbo…an ocean ripples…a sky sways…all is light…all is good…it hides so well beneath the surface…lives go on…oblivious…innocent…and yet those with the purest of hearts…cannot see just what their shadows really have to say…what they thought they did not possess…really does exist…far within their beings…lies what they wish they could deny…once reality sets in…they must face their fear…embrace their destiny…and rise to what they were meant to be…or succumb to their normality…leaving their inner strength to wreak what havoc it will…_

Gentle eyes listened to lament of the universe…a prophecy of sorts. The silver auramere lay to the right of their vision, the sapphire to their left. The eyes of compassion slid closed as they waited for more. And it came. Only now, they saw that ocean, light blue waters dancing to and fro among the visible. Silver gusts of wind grazed the surface of the sapphire, playfully splashing it about. If one didn't know any better, the eyes could have sworn they were one in the same. They were like best friends…lifting the other's spirits, delving deep into the other's feelings…one would never know what _really _ran through the unspoken feelings of the two elements…but these were far from the untrained eyes…these eyes could see through anything…and now, they were witnessing what could very well be the beginning of the end of two young lives…two young lives that held so much…and now…the pair of eyes closed, throwing the possibilities out of their mind…

And then the ocean stilled. The winds ceased playing games and simply hung there, like curtains for the world. The eyes watched, understandingly. The waters began to darken beneath a blackening sky. Air whipped up, whirling about, casting up waves. The water crashed in contempt, gathering into a mass of foam and ripples. The tornado turned silver…the whirlpool glowed blue…the explosion resounded…and then…

…and then the eyes returned to the present, unable to view what happened next. They suppressed a sigh, glancing upon the aurameres once again. They waited for it…patience…mixed with terror…mixed with knowing…and with content.

It happened, just as the eyes had known. And they could only watch as the aurameres clouded over with fixation, and within no more than mere moments, the orbs were beginning to double, only their doubles…were black.

(In Candracar)

The world was asleep, the minds of its people succumbed to the desires of their dreams and horror of their nightmares. But as the Oracle delved into the auras of those held most dear to the hearts of those in Candracar, he saw that one mind lay restless, tossing and turning in what the girl hoped would become sleep. Hay Lin cradled her head in her hands as she prayed for sleep to come, to help her forget the terrible events that had led her to spending the night in the guest room at Cornelia's place. The Oracle pitied her. Not because of what had happened to her, but for what was yet to come. The events that had overwhelmed the girls were only clues, only clues to the beginning of…the Oracle let his shoulders vibrate in a slight shudder, not wanting to think about what was to come.

His eyes finally saw Hay Lin's slide closed, immersing herself in a long-awaited slumber. And the minute the Oracle felt her consciousness slip away, he felt a new alertness take over her.

"Find your strength," he whispered to the girl's reflection before letting it fade into oblivion.

(On Earth)

The people of Heatherfield lay in peaceful slumber…well, most of them, anyway. One lonely little figure walked the quiet city streets, using the shadows as a veil to hide behind. Blue eyes that seemed glued to gazing upon the concrete beneath them lifted to see the ruins of the Silver Dragon looming in front of them, the advertising lettering of drainage trucks taunting, blaming, berating…all in perfect silence. All the figure did was grin, grin at the damage at the hands of nature's sister, water. But the figure was there for no more than a moment before circling the lamppost and walking away, fingers trailing on the rugged bricks of the wall to their right, smile never fading from their face…


	11. That's Not Me

MERRY/HAPPY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH/KWANZA/whatever holiday you guys celebrate this time of year! My gift to you: A nice long update! lol so here's chapter 12!

Irma: Are you almost done with this thing? God, you're seriously taking forever.

You know, I could make you die right here & now if I want to.

Irma: Can't you torture Will or someone else?

Not until I finish this story up.

Will: WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN::takes out the Heart of Candracar:

I guess this would be a bad time to ask you to do the disclaimer?

:pink beams of light start to shoot from the Heart:

Guess not. I don't own WITCH, just this plot::runs out of the room:

On with the show!

Chapter 12

That's Not Me

Irma woke up to the sound of bluebirds outside her window. Now, given the fact that Irma is NOT a morning person and got about three hours of sleep due to worrying about her best friend, plus the superpowers and really short temper, you could safely say that it would REALLY have sucked to be one of those bluebirds outside of Irma's window that morning.

But once silence graced her ears again, Irma decided to see just the wonders of the world that came out to play while its people lay asleep. So after throwing on some clothes and sticking some clips in her hair, Irma scribbled a note to her parents, stuck it on the refrigerator door, and stepped outside, savoring the feel of fresh air on her stiff skin.

Apparently, the water princess was the only one curious about the hidden wonders of sleeping Heatherfield, because as she walked the streets, she walked them alone, no one there to pay witness as she found herself standing in front of the ruins of the Silver Dragon. Irma's eyebrows began to knit together in confusion. She could have sworn that she had already been there, already been standing in the exact same place only hours earlier…

_No, _Irma told herself, shaking her head. _I was asleep, it's impossible…_ But the feeling of déjà vu was unmistakable as it flooded through her like blood through her veins. She was about to snap herself out of her own thoughts before a cry beat her to the punch. She spun around to meet the sound, and her eyes met the face of a man. She recognized him as the manager of the Golden. He was just standing there, his eyes wide with accusation as he beckoned Irma over to where he stood. Shrugging her shoulders, Irma walked over and stood before him.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," he growled through clenched teeth, curling his hand into a fist. "You can return what you stole!"

"What are you talking about?" Irma questioned, taking a step back from the man's raised fist. "I've never stolen anything!"

"Then how do you explain this?" The man pulled out a camcorder and switched it on. Irma watched incredulously as a figure that resembled her to a hair slunk into the wreckage of the Silver Dragon in the middle of the night, and then emerged with an ornate Chinese vessel tucked into their arms.

"T-t-that's not me," Irma stammered as the man shut off the camcorder. "I-I was asleep, I swear. I didn't steal that…she's…she's my best friend…I would never…"

"But you did," the man spat, but then a vicious grin slid onto his face. "I'll tell you what, pretty girl," he said, shoving the camcorder into a nearby bag. "Maybe I can just forget that the whole thing ever happened…" He trailed off, grabbing Irma's shoulders and shoving her back against the rugged brick wall. "…for a small price." His grip tightened so much a squeal of pain escaped Irma's lips. Apparently, that wasn't what the man wanted to hear because the next thing Irma felt was a hand cracking across her face.

She opened her eyes once recovered from the pain to find the man's lips inches from hers. Letting her disgust and rage take it from there, her knee flew up and nailed the guy where it hurts (A/N: use your imaginations here, people). And that was pretty much all it took to get herself free. Leaving the man keeled over in pain, the water princess ran, and not two steps further on the pavement, rain began to pour, the skies crying angry tears of resentment…but for Irma, or for her attacker?

Irma really couldn't care less who the skies pitied. She simply ran on through the rain, ignoring the insistent burn in her legs that was begging her to stop. She closed her eyes and let the water wash it all away, wash away the whole sordid episode from her memory. She sighed contentedly. Water could always do that for her, could always purify whatever seemed to go wrong. She couldn't imagine what she would ever do without it…or the person she would be…

Throwing open the front door of her house and silently thanking God that her parents weren't home, Irma went upstairs, wrapped a towel around her now shivering form, and sat huddled on her bed, trying to deny the man's words over and over and over again. But they just kept coming back, and with each time they sounded so much more…true.

_NO, NO, NO! _Irma screamed inside of her head. _You were asleep! You couldn't have…you couldn't have…_

_Clink! _Irma's eyes snapped to her closet. Something white had slipped to the floor…something that sounded oddly like the clink of fine china…

Irma's heart began to pound hard. Wrapping the towel tighter around her body, she slid across the bed and let her feet touch the floor. She stood before her closet door, hand outstretched, quivering as if she thought there was a monster inside just waiting to pounce the moment she opened the door. Nervous sweat ran down her face, her eyebrows shot up out of apprehension, heart pounding in her ears, faster, faster, faster, hand on doorknob, twisting around, pulling open…

…and almost fainting from the shock. There, sitting on her barren closet floor, was the vessel from the video. The vessel she had been accused of stealing. Irma had to grab onto the door to steady herself from falling to the floor and going into pure shock. Kneeling down, she cradled it in her hands, and all at once recognized it as the vessel that held the ashes of Chen Lin (A/N: He isn't a real character. In this story, he's Yan Lin's deceased husband NOT Hay Lin's father, and yes, they both have the same name)

Irma almost dropped the vessel. _Oh no, _she thought. She knew that this was the one treasure that the Lin family held most dear, and that they surely would return to the ruined restaurant to retrieve it. Hay Lin had never met her grandfather, and she had told her Irma that the vessel was the one thing that brought her close to him. But what would they do when it wasn't there…and they found out that she had it? Tears sprung to Irma's eyes as she thought of losing her best friend all over again.

_Thunk! _The sound of the front door opening caused Irma to stand up straight and at attention faster than you could say Spord Lartsa. She heard her father come in…accompanied by some police officers…and Mr. and Mrs. Lin…

Panic overtook the girl. She spun around in place, looking desperately for a way out before anyone could catch her…and then she saw her open window. She told herself no, just hide in the closet until they go away…but rapid footsteps on the stairs convinced her otherwise. She grabbed the nearest purse; carefully tucked the vessel into it, hurried over to her window and climbed out just the knob of her bedroom door began to turn.

And with the voices of a police force filled her empty room, Irma began the long walk over to Cornelia's house, fear in her mind and hope in her heart…

Okay that probably wasn't that great a chapter sorry if you thought the same way…anyway, expect an update when review numbers hit 57!


	12. Who I Am Inside

Hey everybody! Thanks to scottgrub, Periphery, Yuki3x3, and starangel100890 for reviewing! Hope everyone had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza! Here's chapter 13!

Irma: I AM NOT A THEIF! God, why couldn't you have made me a hero? Would that have been SO hard?

Me: Yes. Now read the disclaimer.

Irma: KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own WITCH. If she did, Heatherfield would probably be under the rule of Phobos by now or something…

Me: Hey, I'm not THAT mean. Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 13

Who I Am Inside

Hay Lin sighed for the entire world to hear…which would have worked, had anyone else been around to hear her. But no one was. She was alone, left alone to stare down the four walls of the guest room of the Hale family's apartment. She lifted her hands and was ready to bury her face in them, to soak them with tears of bitter rage, but something stopped her. Holding her breath, Hay Lin listened to what she thought to be silence smothering her atmosphere like a blanket. She heard nothing…nothing but the small yet insistent humming of words so quiet she could not understand them. Whipping her head to face the doorway, she found her eyes taking in the gentle blue glow of a TV screen gracing the entrance to her temporary home.

Cautious though she was, Hay Lin was a curious girl, and remembering that no televisions had been turned on in the house since the night before, she let herself stand up and walk out and down the staircase into Cornelia's living room, letting the hypnotic blue glow lead her all the way.

As it turned out, the TV _was _on…how, Hay Lin didn't know. She couldn't remember anyone ever having turned it on…the air princess shook her head to rid herself of the haunting thoughts beginning to plague her exhausted mind and instead turned to the TV screen for some comfort, something to take her mind away for a little while.

The two o' clock news was announcing…that the Silver Dragon had been flooded. Hay Lin sighed. As depressing as it was to relive all over again, the girl sat herself down on the couch and listened as the monotone of this-or-that announcer recounted the events.

"…and just this morning, a vessel was discovered missing from the ruins of the restaurant." Hay Lin's eyes immediately snapped to the screen, her ears waiting to drink in the rest of the story. "It is reported that it contained the ashes of a deceased family member, and was assumedly stolen by one of the family's friends."

Hay Lin's head began to spin. _No, _she thought. _Not grandpa's ashes…who would do something like that? _Hay Lin asked herself as her eyes began to fill.

As if in answer to her question, Irma's school yearbook photo popped up onto the screen and the reporter's voice continued Hay Lin's much needed explanation.

"Irma Lair, a close friend of the Lin family, has been accused of stealing the vessel. An eyewitness delivered camcorder footage of the crime to Mr. and Mrs. Lin just this morning. Ms. Lair's whereabouts are currently unknown, and she is being searched for by a police force as we speak. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact…"

Hay Lin didn't catch the rest of the conversation. She was too busy trying to sort out reality.

"No," she whispered. "Irma wouldn't have…she _couldn't _have…"

As if on some invisible cue, wind began to pour through an open window, caressing Hay Lin's shoulders like a mother comforting her child, speaking to her as it blew by.

_Oh, she couldn't have? Tell me, child, the water guardian has a temper as large as her big mouth, correct?_

"Well…I wouldn't put it like that," Hay Lin whispered in answer. "But…yes."

_Then how much sense does it make that she did what she did? She is a type that easily seeks revenge without a second thought…did you really think that she would just let go of your powerful demonstration at practice?_

"No…" Hay Lin choked. "No, Irma's my best friend."

_Did you really believe that friendship necklaces and words of promise meant anything? Not to her. You have a big heart, Hay Lin, but you open it to the worst of people._

"What do you know?" Hay Lin whispered, but she found herself believing the wind's words.

_More than you do. But tell me, dear, are you simply going to sit here while the remains of your grandmother's love are in the hands of a monster?_

"I…I shouldn't, should I?"

_No, _the wind whispered, satisfied. _And you should show no mercy to the disgracer of your family._

Before Hay Lin could reply to her element's harsh words, the wind ceased to move, and the sharp buzz of the doorbell cut through her thoughts.

"Come on up," she said into the little intercom without any second thought, thinking that it was probably Will and Taranee or maybe her parents. She simply sat on floor to the side of the door, her hands curling into angry fists as the reality of what Irma had done to her sunk in. She found vile thoughts beginning to run through her head, thoughts of what she would do to Irma when she saw her sorry face again. Bloodlust had just about taken her mind away when she heard a knock in the distance. Straightening herself up and putting on her best happy face, Hay Lin opened the door and came face to face with Irma Lair, wanted criminal.

The air girl's face hardened, and for a second Irma felt afraid, but she quickly shook it off and took the vessel from her purse.

"I found this," Irma said, holding it out to Hay Lin. _It's not a _complete _lie, _she thought. _I did find it…just not quite the way I'd planned it._ "I know how much it means to you. I wanted you to have it back."

Hay Lin stood there for a good minute, not letting any trace of emotion slip itself into her expression. Finally, her hands took the vessel from Irma, placed it gently on the coffee table next to her. Irma smiled, but it soon faded into a thin line of fear as Hay Lin turned back and began to walk towards her until they just inches apart, the air girl looking like she was ready to kill the next person that said two words to her.

"Hay Lin…" Irma began, reaching to place a hand of comfort on her friend's shoulder, about to ask her what was wrong. Hay Lin's hands immediately shot out and shoved the water girl backward so that she landed on the floor, looking up at her best friend's deadly expression.

"How dare you," Hay Lin murmured, reaching down and pulling Irma up by the front of her shirt. "HOW DARE YOU!" she roared. "I know that what I did at power practice was nothing to be proud of, but _this?" _She paused to shake her head, and the wrinkles of her frown disappeared. "I thought you were my best friend," she whispered. Looking up directly into Irma's eyes, she spoke again, her voice cracking on sobs. "I guess I was wrong. I meant nothing to you."

"Hay Lin, it's not true! I never stole from you! I swear I didn't steal your grandfather's ashes! I thought you knew me better than that!"

Hay Lin raised her other hand and smacked Irma across the face. Gasping at what she had just done, Hay Lin let go of Irma's shirt, breaking down into another crying spell. "I guess…we…don't know each other anymore…now do we?" Hay Lin choked through her tears.

"Hay Lin…" Irma tried again, coming up next to the girl's shaking form.

"JUST GET OUT OF HERE!" Hay Lin cried, shoving Irma out of the apartment and slamming the door in her face. Irma could only stand there, stunned. She didn't know where to go. Her best friend's family and her own _father _were trying to track her down to throw her in the slammer. As she turned to go, a small cry of pain came from the other side of the door, followed by a growing shadow slipping into view out from under the door…

Irma knew she shouldn't, but honestly, do you think she cared? Yeah, that would be a no. So she turned the knob of the unlocked door, swung it slowly open, and let herself scream at the sight that lay before her.

Lol sorry if that causes suspense but it's getting pretty late & I have to stop. Anyway, hope you liked it & you can expect another update when I get 57 reviews!


	13. Who I Am Inside Part II

Hey everybody! Thanks to scottgrub, Periphery, Yuki3x3, and harryrulesmyworld for reviewing! Here's chapter 14!

Hay Lin: YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO ME RIGHT NOW!

Me: Um, you could just read the story like everyone else…and do the disclaimer while you're at it…

Hay Lin: KaNdRaKaRgrl doesn't own WITCH or "Reflection," by Christina Aguilera

Me: Thank you! Now, on with the show!

Chapter 14

Who I Am Inside Part II

"_JUST GET OUT OF HERE!" Hay Lin cried, shoving Irma out of the apartment and slamming the door in her face. Irma could only stand there, stunned. She didn't know where to go. Her best friend's family and her own father were trying to track her down to throw her in the slammer. As she turned to go, a small cry of pain came from the other side of the door, followed by a growing shadow slipping into view out from under the door…_

_Irma knew she shouldn't, but honestly, do you think she cared? Yeah, that would be a no. So she turned the knob of the unlocked door, swung it slowly open and let herself scream at the sight that lay before her._

Hay Lin was sprawled out on the floor in front of her, eyes closed, her face paler than moonlight. If Irma hadn't seen part two of the sight before her, she would've sworn that her best friend was dead. The water princess ran to Hay Lin's side. The air guardian's skin was so cold; Irma could feel her figure vibrating as her friend visibly shivered. It was like a part of her had disappeared…

Irma felt a shadow sliding over her, and so she turned around to come face to face with none other than…Hay Lin. But it wasn't her friend; it wasn't her friend at all. The figure that stood before her seemed as if someone had cloned the air princess, but this, this was her guardians form, her side of strength, of power. And it wasn't looking too happy to see her. Those almond-shaped eyes were dangerously close to being closed altogether, just narrow little slits glaring down at Irma's form, her arms around the quivering body of her best friend, silently urging her to wake from her state.

"She won't wake," the Hay Lin in front of her said, her lips turned up in a sickly satisfied smile.

"What have you done?" Irma spat disgustedly.

"Look in a mirror and ask yourself that question," the figure answered. "But then again, we wouldn't want that poor mirror to break upon your ugly glance, now would we?"

Irma stood up heatedly. "If you hurt her I swear you'd better start running now because trust me it won't take long for me to catch up and beat the living crap out of you!"

The figure's expression remained unchanged. She simply returned Irma's insistent stare before ripping the girl's heart apart even more. "I would never hurt her; never hurt a girl with such a heart of gold. But you have tainted that heart, _Irma_." She said her name with such contempt lacing her voice. "You have made it rust with hate, with grief, with pity…with dark thoughts…very dark indeed."

The girl's words cut like a knife through Irma's heart, through her mind, through her emotions. Her hatred of herself had always been there, her feelings that she could never achieve what was remotely close to the perfection that was expected of her, and now, it was as though the world was confirming it, as if the world was saying yes, Irma, you really _are _worthless.

"I _didn't _mean for this to happen! I never stole from Hay Lin! I know that it wasn't of my own free will that all of this happened! Fate's plan for me hasn't exactly turned out great, but my own free will had nothing on it!"

"If that were true, you _wouldn't _have sat back and let this happen," the girl said, gesturing to Hay Lin.

"I can't interfere with something as big as fate!" Irma snapped, dangerously close to letting slip a certain spell that turned a certain boy into a certain amphibian.

"We all write our own destinies, don't we?"

That was all it took. Irma marched over until her face was about a centimeter away from the girl's and took her by the shoulders.

"YOU PUT HER RIGHT!" she screamed, spinning the girl around and knocking her to the floor so that she landed next to Hay Lin.

The girl took her time getting up. "I thought water was supposed to wallow in their emotions." And without further ado, she lifted her hands. Wind began to twirl around her throat, compressing it, the air like fingers digging hungrily into her flesh. As she struggled to choke out a sound of any kind, Irma swung her own hands up, chanting a mantra over and over in her head, when…

THE END

LOL doesn't that just satisfy your need to know the answers to all your questions? I'm just kidding…ANYWAYS, where were we? Oh yes, Irma's getting strangled and Hay Lin's clone has it coming to her…

…the rain cloud visualized in Irma's mind came to life, sprouting out of thin air above the girl's head and proceeding to positively POUR.

The girl simply stood her ground, hands still raised, bloodthirstiness make the features of her face twitch, but managing to maintain her calm veneer.

"Let's see how long it takes your best friend's vision…or her _wish, _rather, to come true."

And then, Irma saw nothing but herself. Mirrors held her, ripples of water, reflecting upon her soul…and as Irma gazed upon them, her eyes began to fill, her eyes gazing upon the soul of a monster, the monster that had caused her to betray her best friend.

_Look at me; you may think you see who I really am_

_But you'll never know me_

_Every day, it's as if I play a part_

_Now I see, if I wear a mask I can fool the world_

_But I cannot fool my heart_

Irma let the tears go as the song filled her head. _It's only a trick; it's only a game, only a game, only a game, _she chanted, trying to snap herself out of whatever she was in. But the words only continued, pushing Irma deeper and deeper into the wallowing sea of her own darkness.

_Who is that girl I see? Staring straight back at me_

_When will my reflection show who I am inside?_

_It has, hasn't it?_ Irma bit her lip, letting the sobs rack inside of herself.

And then she was back. Collapsing on the floor of the apartment, Irma crawled over to where Hay Lin's body lay. She wrapped her arms around her friend, praying that she would be all right. She wanted to belt out the rest of the song right then and there, but her voice caught in her throat. She just felt a wave of relief wash over her as Hay Lin's skin began to warm…

…and a wave of panic as a knock came at the door.

"Police," the person on the other side of the door identified. "We have a warrant. Open up."

Terror overtook Irma and held her in its grip until she had laid Hay Lin on the guest bedroom bed and quietly slipped out the window and onto the fire escape, leaving the rest of the song to play without her, its words of comfort to comfort all…but her.

Finding the door unlocked, Officer Lair entered the apartment and searched…until he came upon an open window, solemnly gazing out of it into the horizon. Letting anger take its course, the window slammed shut under the guidance of his hands and he left the room in silence, letting his daughter's escape confirm his fears.

_I am now in a world where I have to hide my heart_

_And what I believe in_

_But somehow_

_I will show the world what's inside my heart_

_And be loved for who…I…am…_

Don't you love a good cliffy? Hehe I know I do! Anyway, like? Don't like? Tell me in a review! Not updating until I have 65! A lot of things will be explained in the next chapter, so review if you want answers to your questions!


	14. Break My Heart

Hey everybody! I know, I know, I'm HORRIBLE for not updating all this time, but school's been SO hectic with finals & all, but now I've got some free time & I'm using it for updates! BTW, sorry for any confusion. Chapter 8, Very Superstitious, got deleted because the chapters got all screwed up somehow. I'm probably not going to repost it though, it doesn't really alter the story's course.

Irma: About time you've got this show back on the road!

Hay Lin: Can't you just do the disclaimer without commenting?

Irma: KaNdRaKaRgrl doesn't own WITCH. Happy?

Hay Lin: Very. Here's chapter 14 guys!

Chapter 14

Break My Heart

The slam of pane to sill had long since past, leaving only an echo of a forgotten moment to sing the breaking song of a lost little girl, standing beneath a window closed, the cooling touch of metal long left her hands as she finished her descent down the fire escape ladder, facing the world, waiting for some sort of sign to drop from Candracar to tell her where to go next.

"Irma?"

The water girl jumped at the sound of her name, her head whipping around, fists raised, only to meet the slightly confused expression of Martin Tubbs. She felt her shoulders break free of tension, visibly relaxing under his gaze of perplexity.

"Something wrong, my little sweet potato?" he asked, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and for once, Irma didn't completely blow up like a human Pompeii at the use of his commonly way too sugar-sweet drowned nickname.

"You haven't heard?" Irma asked, gloom descending at his naïve words. The whole town had to have known by now, so why was Martin asking her to recall the whole sordid misunderstanding once again?

"Well, there was this one bit on the news that mentioned the words 'Irma' 'stealing' and 'wanted' in it, but I thought it was just one big mistake…" He trailed off, swinging his arm around Irma's drooping shoulders and leading her along the sidewalk, the normally snappish water girl following along docilely.

"That's all it is, Martin, just a big mistake…a big mistake that cost me my best friends."

Irma guessed her eyes had begun to glisten, because she felt Martin tighten his grip on her shoulders. "Hey, everything's going to be okay, my little passion flower. How could anyone stay mad at a gem like you for long?"

Despite her raging desire to keep it at bay, Irma felt the corners of her mouth tugging up in an attempt at a smile. "Now _there's_ the Irma I fell head over heels for. C'mon," he said, leading her around a corner, and Irma didn't even have time to turn and run before the blare of sirens assaulted her, gleaming glints of red twirling in the night as her father's squadron surrounded the pair of them, Mr. Lair motioning for Martin to come up beside him, leaving Irma cornered.

"Irma," Mr. Lair started, walking up to his daughter and extending his hand. "We just want to ask you some questions, honey…"

His words were lost on her. She was too busy staring at Martin, her beautiful sea eyes tainted with hurt. "You…you helped them set me up…"

"Irma…"

"NO!" she cried, clenching her teeth against the tears. "I didn't! I never stole from her! But nothing I say can convince you!" She sank to her knees, and her father came to pull her to her feet, leading her sadly over to the nearest squad car. "Nothing can convince you…" she whispered through her choking voice, and her father could only look down at her in shame as he slammed the door shut, somberly starting off for Heatherfield's County Jail.

**BREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEART**

Hay Lin let out a yelp as she was jolted from dream world, springing up and out of Cornelia's guest bed, panting from a nightmare she couldn't even remember, a fear she couldn't even place. It was as if half of her had disappeared and only now come back…

…and then she remembered everything: Irma bringing back the ashes, shoving her out the door, screaming as she fell to the floor in pain, unconsciousness numbing her entire figure into blank sleep…

Sprinting downstairs to an empty apartment and the ashes still sitting on the table, she snatched up the nearest phone and dialed Irma's cell, dial tone filling her ears as she slammed it back down on the table, looking up at the ceiling, hoping her grandmother could hear her silent pleas for guidance up in Candracar…

**BREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEART**

_This sucks. _Those were the two simple words running wild through Irma's head as she sat curled up in the corner of a dank, dark jail cell, the police force's idea of 'keeping the situation on the down low' until they could get a hold of Hay Lin to confirm Irma's statement that NO, she DID NOT STEAL FROM HER BEST FRIEND. She lifted herself up off the stiff mattress and walked over into the streams of moonlight pouring in through the barred up window, wishing she was on the outside looking in.

"Well, well, well, I see we've finally landed where we're supposed to be."

Irma froze. She heard her cell door being unlocked, footsteps coming up behind her, a face leaning right into hers…

The guy with the camcorder, the guy that had shown her 'proof' that she had stolen from Hay Lin. Only now, he was clad in the uniform of an officer. "You know, we never did get to finish what we'd started…" Irma opened her mouth, starting to scream as she remembered him forcing her up against the wall, prying entrance into her lips, stealing a kiss that she wasn't willing to give. With one fluid motion the man reached into his pocket and had the barrel of a gun to Irma's head before you could say 'Guardians in the castle!'

"Tell you what, babe. You do what I say, and I don't blow your head off."

Irma closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as she felt her hands clapped into a pair of handcuffs behind her back. "You are a _sick, sick _man," she growled under her breath.

"_What _was that?" he questioned in a voice eerily calm. Before she could open her mouth to say 'nothing' the still unnamed officer took her by the shoulders, slammed her face-up onto the bed, and grinned down into her struggling face, trying to replace tears with anger. And before he got around to tugging his shirt off, he took a shiny black cane-like instrument and whacked it across Irma's skull. And as her mind numbed, all the water girl remembered was the officer's hot breath hitting her neck and the slowly growing louder frush of fire…

**BREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEARTBREAKMYHEART**

Irma's blue eyes opened to the station's reception room, Will, Taranee, and Cornelia's worried faces relaxing above her as she began to sit up. "What…what…"

"Articulate as always," Cornelia said. "You're lucky the Heart gave us some warning, or that guy would've gotten what he wanted."

"Is…is he…?"

"Yeah, he's the one behind bars instead of you," Will finished since Irma was short of words that night.

"Thank you," Irma whispered, the memory of sounds of fire flooding back to her.

Taranee was the only one to say you're welcome. Will just stared at her, and Cornelia looked away, trying to place her feelings toward the whole thing.

"Did Hay Lin…?"

"Yeah, she called a little while ago, said you were completely innocent and all. We think you guys should talk…get this all sorted out."

And without further ado, Irma launched herself at Will, not bothering to hide the tears, not bothering to think of the consequences of her sobbing later. The leader simply wrapped her arms around her and, with Taranee rubbing her back, Cornelia just standing off to the side to watch the group hug, Irma lost herself in the confusion, drowning in her thoughts of what was to come.

Well, I'm sorry to say that this story will come to an end in a few chapters, but I've got the sequel all planned out. So the faster you review, the faster this ends and the sequel begins! 71 reviews till I update!


	15. Red & Blue

Hey everybody! Thanks to topazchick08, harryrulesmyworld, HeartFout, Bubble Gum, Irma, Evil Jay Lin, mickey & Elementalflame for all of the AMAZING reviews! I just got a GREAT idea for the explanation of all these events, so expect some really good last chapters.

Irma: YES! It's finally over!

Hay Lin: Weren't you listening last chapter? There's a little thing called a SEQUEL coming our way.

Irma: …I HATE this author.

KaNdRaKaRgrl: I love you too, Irma. I don't own WITCH, just like I haven't for the last FOURTEEN chapters.

Chapter 15

Red & Blue

Five days had passed since the purely lucky freedom from the Heatherfield County Jail, five long days, every minute stretching into its own mini eternity, five long days that gave each guardian twenty four hours to let their thoughts on the entire sordid situation run a marathon through their scrambling heads.

Will Vandom, leader that she was, consumed herself in worry, worry of her friends, of Candracar, worry of what would happen to W.I.T.C.H. if this kept up any longer. Irma drowned herself in the sooth of her radio, her voice carrying her off to the land of what could have been. Taranee spent most of her anger on the basketball court, slamming the ball through the net every time the reality that she didn't know what was going on boiled up into her thoughts. If there was one thing Taranee Cook couldn't stand, it was not knowing.

Cornelia, however, couldn't help but feel her face flush with resentment as she thought of Irma. She never _had _completely trusted her, mostly because of the fact that there was never a moment of peace once they got a fight going. But she guessed that it was because of what the water girl had been accused of. Irma had before abused her powers, and now, she was only further proving that she might just be unfit for guardianship.

Hay Lin was the only one able to sleep peacefully. Getting Irma out of prison was a burden that her conscience was able to heft off her shoulders. Now, she simply waited in slumber for an alarm clock to slice through her dreams, dreams of red and blue winding down below her, coming up to meet her, and waking up before anything else could happen.

When dusk began to fall and Hay Lin's musings ceased, Will had corralled the entire group, save Hay Lin, over to a park nearby.

"Okay, before Hay Lin gets here, we _need_ to get to the bottom of this. Irma…"

"Way ahead of you." Irma closed her eyes, hands out in front of her, and minutes later she unsheathed her vision to the mirror image of herself, the astral drop she loved to hate.

"Okay look, I need to know what you remember from the night the Silver Dragon flooded," Irma said, tone interrogative all the way.

Astral Irma put a finger to her chin and looked up, obviously faking deep thought. "Hmm…I know! Hang on, I lost it." After five minutes of the magic disappearing memory trick, Irma marched up her astral drop and cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Tell you what," she said. "If your memory meets your mouth, I'll cancel my fist's meeting with your face!"

The water girl's slew of menace only served her copy's smirk. "On the night the Silver Dragon was flooded…we broke into what was left and stole Chen Lin."

Irma stood stock still, one hand behind her back, shoulders quaking with bottled angst as she absorbed the truth. "So…" she started, and while Taranee, Will and Cornelia started to back up out of fear, the astral drop stayed put, apparently amused at Irma's show of seemingly complacent fury. "It was…it was YOU! YOU CAUSED THIS WHOLE MESS YOU AREN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO BE REAL WITHOUT ME SAYING SO SO WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE!"

Irma finished her tirade; face flushed with anger, and revealed a bowling ball-sized sphere of water hovering just above her hand and sent it flying into the astral drop's smiling face. With little rivers making themselves at home on skin, the astral drop simply lifted her hand and within seconds, her face was perfectly clear, the smooth, creamy skin unblemished.

"Oblivious as always," the copy smirked. "Typical Irma. You really have no idea what you're up against, do you?"

"Yeah I do, a copy who thinks she's all that and can't just say stuff straight out!" Irma threw back, silent red tinges of anger rising up to her face in a furious blush of rage.

Before the astral drop could open its mouth in reply, Hay Lin came tearing through the park's open gate, head snapping over her shoulder in fear. Reaching the group, she ran behind Irma and clamped her hands on her shoulders, cowering behind the friend she hadn't spoken to in five days straight.

"Hay Lin, what in the name of Candracar_–_"

Fast forward about ten seconds, and enter Hay Lin's astral drop, touching down from a chasing flight through Heatherfield. Eyes of near black and blue locked in a stare of fire as the astral drops faced each other, as if a grudge of tainted friendship had after centuries rekindled now. The girls could only stand by and watch as the copies stood opposite each other, looking about ready to kill the brave one to speak up and interrupt their staring contest.

Finally, Irma stepped forward, getting sick of silence. "Okay, would someone, _anyone, _mind telling us what's going on here?" Hay Lin nodded along, stepping out from behind the shelter of her best friend.

The drops' eyes strayed over to their hosts, pearly white teeth gleaming, reflections of malice voiced by none. And before they regained their place in the girls' souls, Irma and Hay Lin could have sworn they saw a flash of scales, a metallic flurry of fang and tooth and nail before white engulfed their vision, control seeming to disappear as fast as consciousness as they felt spurts of power come as often as the cries of concern made their way out of the mouths of the other three guardians. And as the girls were whisked away, only broken past filled their heads, an image of two mountains, and a pink crystal hanging in their middle.

Okay, not exactly my best chapter ever, but this was only meant to set up the next three or four, which will be a LOT more exciting & revealing. So the faster you review, the faster I update! Let's make it…82 reviews & I'll update. So hit that magic GO button & send me your review!


	16. Black & Silver

Hey everybody! Thanks to Elementalflame, harryrulesmyworld, Adiatu, topazchick08, & Beaumont's Lament for the great reviews! Here's chapter 16!

Irma: KaNdRaKaRgrl fortunately does not own W.I.T.C.H.

On with the show!

Chapter 16

Black & Silver

"IRMA! HAY LIN!" Will's broken screams were lost in the night as she reached out to the spot where her friends had been standing just seconds earlier, swallowed up by who knows what. She turned to Cornelia and Taranee, trying and failing miserably to hide her glazing eyes. For a moment no one spoke; digesting all that had just happened was like trying to gulp down the Sheffield cafeteria food with Taranee's appetite for it.

"What are you waiting for?" Taranee choked, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "GET THE HEART OF CANDRACAR AND FIND THEM!" Fire had the reigns over her sadness, and Will just nodded numbly as she called the pink jewel to the surface.

"We'll find them," she whispered. "I promise." And with a brilliant flash of pink, Heatherfield's park stood empty once again.

(Meanwhile, with Irma & Hay Lin…)

"IRMA!" Hay Lin was terrified, and she obviously wasn't afraid to show it. Eyes shut tight, she braced herself against the searing pain snaking across her palm. It was the symbol of the air, black as midnight, tattooing itself onto her delicate skin. She could only feel herself falling, the rush of transformation capturing her senses, only terror mixing with euphoria as a power she never knew she possessed gripped her every bit of being.

_Once upon a time, the sky filled the world. Time was young then. There were no rivers or lakes on Earth. Only the great Eastern Sea. And DRAGONS. _

The words echoed through Hay Lin's mind, her grandmother's voice melding with her mother's as the tale sprung to life before her now-opened eyes.

_Dragons who chased each other through the air. Of all the dragons, the bravest were the red dragon, the yellow dragon, the black, and the pearl dragons._

Hay Lin's mind matched dragon to guardian so fast she hadn't had time to blink. And the rest of the story flowed along quite nicely…until the red and black dragons darted off together toward the sky to bring water to the clouds.

'_Hold the clouds,' the red dragon commanded, water spiraling toward the fluff of white._

_The black dragon did as was told, steadying the children of the air as its friend gave them life. And so the people were given their rain. The black dragon knew that the emperor would be far from pleased, so he took aside his friend while dragons of yellow and pearl continued to clear the clouds._

'_You know that we will surely be punished,' he said, and the red dragon nodded somberly, head still held high._

'_It is of no use to the world for all of us to be locked away. I will step up and take the blame.'_

_The black dragon's eyes widened, fear illuminating orbs of black. 'I can't let you. You won't live to see the light of day again. We must fight him. We cannot allow ourselves to be imprisoned for simply bringing justice where it was due.'_

'_Fighting gets no one anywhere,' the red dragon said, looking out at the beaming faces of the villagers._

'_What has happened to you?' the black dragon asked. 'You used to be alight with rage, the very essence of what we stood for. You used to fight for what you wanted. You never gave up. Why now? Why this?'_

'_All dragons do not stand for rage. A fire in one is weaker in another. Not all of us can fly freely anymore. That is why you three must remain. I can't have the world suffer because of justice. That's what will happen if you aren't here.'_

'_Don't you understand?' The black dragon cried out impatiently. 'We have more power than that emperor ever will! We can save ourselves!'_

'_At whose expense? That creature they call an emperor might deserve the blow we could deliver, but is it right to do so?'_

_The red dragon turned to leave for the emperor's palace, but the black dragon caught him by the tail, claws sinking into scales so that blood gasped for air on the surface. The red dragon turned, and in a flurry of fangs and claws, the two dragons fell out of the air, tumbling through one element and crashing into another, deeper and deeper they went into the frothing waves of the sea. _

_The red dragon broke away from his friend, gliding through the water so that he could escape to the emperor's palace and confess before the others could stop him. But he didn't know was that the black dragon couldn't swim for his life, air being his only friend and subject. Water mastered him, leaving him drowning until the emperor's guards hauled him to the surface to face the punishment that the red dragon couldn't prevent._

_And then the three other dragons found themselves standing before the emperor, their friend now a lonely mountain standing in the emperor's landscape. 'He left me alone,' he thought. 'He left me alone…my best friend…forever…' _

_Soon they stood beside the lone little mountain, until Xin Jing's magic turned them into rivers, into water, the source of all of the black dragon's pain. And so he vowed his revenge on the water, vowed that he would destroy what had destroyed his world. 'The sky won't cry again,' he thought. 'THE SKY WON'T CRY AGAIN!'_

"IIIIIIIRRRRRRRRMMMMMAAAA! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

Irma snapped out of the memories, the part of the legend she had never heard before. Hay Lin was so close, but she couldn't see anything but white, that purely ugly color that mocked you with its perfection. She reached out in front of her, calling out to nobody in particular.

"Hay Lin! HAY LIN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Right behind you."

The water girl spun around, and there she really was. Hay Lin stood behind her, in guardian uniform and all, only purple and turquoise had long since left it. Her top was black, skirt silver, and her leggings piled both one on top of the other in a perfect pattern. And it all clicked into place for Irma. They were the colors of the black dragon. Its spirit held her now.

"Hay Lin," she said, cautiously stepping up to her friend. "Come on, I know you're in there."

Her friend's lips just twisted into a smile, and with a quick raising of her hands, a gust of wind gathered up, knocking Irma into the air, where the red dragon's essence made itself known, red and sapphire blue dying her guardian uniform as she was shoved back into a corner of her mind. She felt her body heaving off the floor, water spurting in flurries from her outstretched hands, the splash as they hit their mark a distant echo.

_We're only bodies, _she thought. _The only ways they could destroy what caused them so much disaster years ago. They've reborn their feud through us, destroying us to destroy our elements. _She spoke into her mind, trying to coax the dragon into submission, but no luck came to her or to Hay Lin. Punches flew, water flowed, air soared. The girls could feel the blood, could feel the pain shooting through their beings as if they were the ones controlling their feelings.

_There has to be a way to beat them, _Irma thought. _What did the red dragon do to try and stop pain long ago…he…he…he gave up! _Irma knew what she had to do so that Hay Lin could live. A part of her hated it, but her other half didn't care, and that half won out. _I'm sorry, red dragon, but I can't let this go on anymore. By losing you've won. I just hope it's enough…_

Closing her eyes, Irma imagined Candracar and the Oracle, concentrating fiercely on her words to him. _Oracle, I give you back what you gave to me. I give you back the power of water, I give you back my guardianship. So there you go…I GIVE UP._

And up in Candracar, the Oracle felt the energy of the oceans return to him as Irma resigned her post so that her best friend could stay. He smiled sadly. The girl had finally seen a light. She was growing up. Her three friends stood behind him, tears brimming at their eyes as he held them there, detaining them so that destiny could take its course. They fought him, they voiced their hate, but he would not let them go further. He could not interfere with fate...he _would not _interfere with this.

Irma felt control return to her, the red dragon's spirit finally free to rest. But the black dragon didn't stop. Hay Lin's body closed in on hers, now clad in the outfit she had worn to the park, her guardian clothes a distant memory. "Hay Lin…" she pleaded weakly, but knuckles crashed against her skin anyway. "Please, Hay Lin, don't…" The air guardian's foot crashed into her stomach, and Irma couldn't help but let a whimper of pain pass through her lips. Hay Lin just smiled, the black dragon's spirit simply feeding upon the young girl's pain.

_What can I do to make you see…? _Irma thought as she felt a gust of wind tear across her skin like a knife, blood crying out of her skin. Cut after cut, pain after pain, her vision started to blur. _So this is how it ends…_Irma thought. _So this is how it ends…_And she felt herself begin to cry, tears of turquoise spilling from her eyes as her element left her.

Hay Lin could see through her eyes, feel through her hands…the only thing she lacked was control. And then she saw Irma, lying on her back in front of her, water no longer her friend. _No…my vision…no…no…NO! You got your revenge; _she called to the dragon's spirit. _NOW LEAVE ME! _

And with the force of three simple words, the dragon did, spirit finally put to rest. She felt herself fall out of the air at Irma's side. "No," she murmured, running her hand through her best friend's blood-caked hair. "No, no, no," she shook her head as tears came out. A groan reached her ears, and she looked to find Irma opening her eyes. The air princess gasped. They were the lightest gray she had ever seen…almost white, even.

"Hay Lin," Irma murmured, reaching up to touch her best friend's hand one more time. "I'm so sorry." Her voice died into a whisper.

'NO! IRMA YOU CAN'T! YOU WON'T!"

"Hay Lin!"

The air girl turned around. Cornelia, Will and Taranee, in guardian uniform and all, were at her side in a matter of seconds. "What happened?" Will asked softly as Cornelia knelt down beside Irma, feeling for a pulse.

"It's…all…my…fault," Hay Lin choked. Taranee wrapped Hay Lin in a hug, rocking her gently back and forth. "Why…why didn't you get here…sooner?"

"The Oracle wouldn't let us," Will answered sadly. "We tried but…he's stronger than we are."

Cornelia stood up. "She's still alive, but…" Cornelia trailed off, looking down at the white expanse beneath her. "We should get her to Candracar," she murmured simply. Will took the Heart, voiced her plea, and the five left limbo to itself.

Sorry if that was a tad bit confusing. Irma & Hay Lin were transported to a sort of limbo-type place. No, it doesn't have a name. Leave any questions you might have in a review (DON'T personal message, because my e-mail's going to be down for a while) The next chapter is the last, and any loose ends left will be tied up there. 83 reviews until I update. Hit that magic go button! You know you want to!


	17. And Now

Hey everybody! Well, sadly, this is the last chapter of BFF?

Irma: YAY::throws party:

_Ahem. _Anyway, as I was saying, this is the final chapter in this installment. There will be a sequel, and possibly a third installment to make for a trilogy. Thanks to topazchick08, scottgrub, JayxKay, harryrulesmyworld, Sokai, & my bestest friend Elementalflame lol (see her review of chapter 16) for the great reviews! So you think Irma's gonna die, huh? Well, read on & find out! By the way, NO I DON'T OWN WITCH FOR THE 17TH TIME! (that was the disclaimer, everybody)

Chapter 17

And Now

The guardians crash landed into the halls of Candracar only seconds after the Heart had whisked them away from wherever they'd been, but for the sworn protectors of the universe, so strong they could stare down evil and not flinch once, it was all they could do to keep from breaking as they held the bleeding body of their fallen teammate, crimson smearing their hands as they tried to look away, only finding themselves hypnotized by the sickening hold the reality of the situation had on their senses.

Will, leader that she'd become, bit her lip and bore it, soft brown eyes offering comfort where they could. Taranee held onto Hay Lin, her eyes mirroring the pain of the Asian girl's, choking down whimpers and praying silently to whoever would hear her. And Cornelia…Cornelia just stood still, absorbing the sight before her. Shock had jogged her memories into gear, streams of words from countless fights exploded in her thoughts, fireworks of the past leading to thinking about just how desolate the future would become if that pulse she had felt earlier faded into nothing…

After it seemed like an eternity had passed and it was time to retire from guardianship, the girls landed on the glossy transparent floors the graced the ethereal fortress of Candracar. Will scrambled off the floor and took off through the hallways for Oracle's usual hangout, the other trailing behind under the weight of Irma. Thinning trickles of the water guardian's fading life stained the fortress's perfection, tainting goodness with despair.

There was a flash of red as Will bolted through the open archway of the Oracle's meditation area, panting and calling forth the Heart, for the room was…empty. Will was thoroughly confused. The Oracle _always _knew when they were coming. The guy see freaking _everything _for God's sake. Either his almighty powers of the universe were out of whack, or…or he didn't want to see them…didn't want to _help_ them. Will shook the thought from her mind as the others gathered around her. She had to be strong. She was leader, and she had to make sure Irma lived through this, it was her responsibility…and that was exactly what scared our favorite fearless redhead.

"ORACLE!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, desperation choking her strangled cry. The other four guardians stepped up to her side, still carrying Irma between them. "ORACLE!" she shouted more desperately when he didn't make an appearance, nervously glancing from Irma's limp form to the vaulted ceilings of Candracar. "ORAC_–_"

"You called, guardian?"

The Oracle stepped out from behind a beautiful vaulted pillar, facing the group and glancing upon each in turn, his eyes at last falling upon the lifeless body held between them. His face was filled with understanding, but he made no move, simply stood there with a serene little smile on his face, hiding the stab of pain it really caused him to see a guardian become so fallen.

"Oracle," Will said, and his eyes traveled up to meet her wavering gaze. "Can…can you save her?" The last words were caught up in a whisper, and the Oracle's lips pressed into a thin line at her request.

"I'm sorry, guardians, but it is not my place."

Hay Lin let out a strangled, guilt-ridden sob at these words, and a bright red blush climbed up into Will's face as she curled her hands into fists, looking like she was going to blow a gasket. "She fell to save her friend! She fell to end a horrible fight so that the elements could be set right again! She fell for CANDRACAR, for US! And she's going to die for us if you don't help her! Can't you see that?"

Cornelia reached out and touched her fingers to Irma's wrist. She could still feel a beat, but…it wouldn't be long now. She tried to think of why the Oracle wouldn't help them if he knew Irma still had a chance. _I'm sorry, guardians, but it is not my place. _His words rang in her head, her mind, ever analytical, trying to place some sort of hidden meaning beneath them. _It is not my place… it is not _my_ place…_

Her eyes widened with delight as everything clicked into place. "Will," she said, laying a gentle hand on the redhead's shoulder. "It's not that he won't help us…it's that he _can't_."

The Oracle smiled at this. Will looked from Cornelia back to the Oracle. "Then what can we do?" she whispered, fear quite evident in her tone.

"Weren't you listening, Will? The Oracle said it was not _his _place to heal her, so…" Cornelia let her voice trail, and the color visibly began to return to Will's panic-stricken, pale complexion.

"So whose place is it?" Taranee questioned, struggling to support Irma and comfort Hay Lin all at once.

Hay Lin broke away from Taranee's shoulder, kneeling down so that she was level with Irma's pale face. She knew she had to do something, she knew it was her place to do what the Oracle was speaking of, even if he wouldn't say it. The trouble was, how could she save her best friend from something as big as death? Sure, the two had often caught the other when they'd fallen, but those had been the days where they used _ice cream _to heal romance trouble, for God's sake. She sighed, rapidly thinking of her powers. She could try to pump some oxygen into Irma's lungs, but she seemed to be breathing just fine…

She thought back to the memories, the story that had played out right before her very eyes even though it had occurred _centuries _ago. "How do you heal a heart that can't beat anymore?" she asked the Oracle, still facing away from him.

"The same way you make a broken dream come true."

Hay Lin spun around. "Will, give me the Heart."

"What?"

"Don't ask questions, just do it!"

So Will called the Heart forth and handed it over to Hay Lin. She stood before Irma, holding the Heart level between them, and in a brilliant flash of pink, the two were in the past, living that fateful day through the dragon's eyes, the essence of Candracar making up for Irma's lack of power, intertwining itself instead with Hay Lin's to get them there. It all played out as they had been shown, but now, as Hay Lin drowned with the black dragon, the red paused at the surface, plunged back into its element, and grasped its friend claw, fingers intertwining as water helped air back to salvation. As the black dragon gasped for air, he caught the wink of the red dragon as he flew for the emperor's palace. And the rest was history…

…history that changed little but the fate of a young girl, a girl that gave a lurching shudder as her eyes cracked open and the fortress of Candracar came into view. Hay Lin dropped the Heart and threw her arms around the newly awake Irma Lair's neck as she struggled to stand up. The other three gasped as their eyes landed upon hers, grey with a sadness they hoped they would never have to know. Irma let herself lean on Hay Lin as she turned to the Oracle, smiling in spite of the crushing force of her teammates' tearful group hug. 'I thought time travel wasn't allowed here," she said, her voice still faint.

"Think of it as helping out some good friends," the Oracle said.

"But how was it possible?" Cornelia asked, ever the skeptic and the first to break away from the group.

"The answer to your question is the same as the one you've been given as to how are your powers possible: destiny." When no one seemed to get it, the Oracle plowed on. "Why do you think Mrs. Lin left that part of the story out when she told Hay Lin? It was because you would have changed it through this, altered the course of history as we know it."

The guardians nodded in understanding, but there was still something nagging at the back of Will's mind. "Oracle…her eyes…what…?" She let her question trail off, leaving the Oracle to fill in the blanks himself.

The Oracle sighed and looked Will straight in the eye. "In order to save the both of them from being destroyed, I'm afraid Irma relinquished her post as a guardian of Candracar, giving up her power over water."

Hay Lin's hand flew to her mouth. _So _that's _why this happened…her eyes showed the world the essence of her element…and now it's gone…_

Irma just nodded acceptingly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Hay Lin put her arm around her shoulder. "Irma," she whispered so only she could hear. "I am so sorry."

Irma looked up and gave her friend one of her signature smirks. "Hey, it's not your fault."

"How can you say tha_–_"

Irma put a finger to Hay Lin's lips. "Like I just did," she said.

"Will she ever be able to get her powers back?" Will asked, and the Oracle could see hope dancing in her eyes. He hated to make it die, but maybe they would find some happiness in the option…

"There is a chance," he began, and all five pairs of eyes brightened on the spot. "Since Irma willingly gave her powers up, she must willingly work to get them back…through a test."

Irma, crumbling under confusion though she was, still managed to ask the question her endower was waiting for. "What do I need to do?"

"Irma Lair, in order to reclaim your post as the guardian of water, you must…"

THE END! WOW it feels so good to be done! Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that, but that's how I envisioned the ending. 90 reviews & I'll post the sequel & not before! C'mon guys, it's only four reviews! I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who reviewed this story. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME::hands out cookies to reviewers: Now hit that magic GO button!


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